Dragonborn Gothic 1 - World-Eater
by gothicjedi666
Summary: I am finally forcing myself to write the story of Dragonborn Gothic. It should be a good long story with lots of adventure. Please be aware that it contains adult themes.
1. Chapter 1

**Author Note**

Don't worry I am still working on my Jump Chain story, but I have been writing Jump Chain since late last January, nearly a year now, so it's time for something different.

I've been meaning to write this story for many years, and now I am finally forcing myself to type it up. I will write this damn story.

This should be a fun read. Dragonborn Gothic is going to fight and sometimes fuck his way across Skyrim while looting ancient tombs for cool stuff and slaying dragons in the hopes of becoming powerful enough to save the world. And that's just the first story, he'll have to deal with that other Dragonborn guy at some point.

 **Dragonborn Gothic 1 - World-Eater**

 **Part 1**

 **Roads. Skyrim.**

I was slowly coming to. I felt as if I was escaping sleep rather than simply waking up from it the way a person would most mornings. What helped with this process was the fact that I was feeling rather uncomfortable. I wasn't lying in my warm bed, I was sitting up, and I was in motion, my body was getting jolted about. Which worried me a little as I shouldn't be moving around like this while still sleeping.

When my eyes opened everything was a hazy mess that made no sense, at least to start with. After blinking a few times, then everything came in to view, and I did not like what I was seeing one bit. This was not my bedroom, this was not my little house that I lived alone in, I didn't even think that this was my world.

Before long I found out that I was sitting in the back of a carriage, and that my hands were for some reason bound by a length of rope, as were those of the other men who were being transported somewhere along with me. This should have made me cry out in fear, or at least feel some level of panic, but I felt oddly calm.

Which didn't seem right. I wasn't at all scared. In fact I felt good, stronger than normal, and I had more energy. As I looked down at myself I noticed that I seemed to have lost some weight, which was a plus in all this, but it was overshadowed by the feeling inside. Something had changed about me, and I felt that it wasn't simply a physical thing.

Inhaling deep I found that I could smell the nature around me, the scent of plants, mostly the trees, was carried on the wind. Alas the people around me didn't smell nearly so good. Clearly they'd not bathed for some time, and they looked as they'd been sleeping rough.

It wasn't until now that I realised my predicament: I was being transported as part of a convoy, if two waggons and some escorts could be called that, and as a prisoner. Looking over, I saw a man, who was fair-skinned and who had a well groomed beard. He was bound and gagged. He looked oddly familiar.

As for me I wore a simple pair of jeans, a black long sleeved t-shirt, which was under light blue shirt. There was also a leather belt around my waist, and I was wearing a leather jacket. Oddly the clothes were dirty, and I felt as if I'd been in them for a while. If there was anything in the pockets I didn't know as right now I couldn't check.

Funny thing was that these were not the clothes I'd gone to sleep in, so not only had I been kidnapped, and changed in a ways I didn't understand, someone had dressed me in my own clothing. This was all somebody's idea of a sick joke, it had to be be.

"Hey. You! You're finally awake" someone said to me "Name's Ralof. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, just like us...and that thief over there"

The well built blond haired man lightly jerked his head, gesturing to a bruised and dirt-covered man who was not like the others, he was too skinny, as for this clothes they were very different that those worn by the blond haired man, his clothes were more like a uniform, were as the thief was dressed in little more than rags.

"Damn you, Stormcloaks" said the thief "Skyrim was fine until you came along. Empire was nice and lazy. If they hadn't been looking for you, I could've stolen that horse and been halfway to Hammerfell".

Realisation hit me with all the force of a punch to the gut. I now understood where I was, and what was about to happen to me. This was the opening of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and I was on my way to be executed along with the rebel Stormcloaks.

Again this should have made me feel fear, despair, or at least upset me, and while I did feel deeply concerned by current situation, that wasn't a strong enough reaction given the dire situation I had found myself in. I should be in denial at this point, or be upset like the thief, instead I found myself thinking about how I might survive if Alduin starting wrecking shit up before my head was placed on the chopping block.

"You there, you and me. We shouldn't be here" protested the crook "It's these Stormcloaks the Empire wants".

I saw Ralof smirk.

"We're all brothers and sisters in binds now, thief" he said.

"Shut up back there!" one of the Imperials ordered.

I ignored the further protests that the thief was making and looked around the town that we had just arrived in. I saw an Imperial officer make a salute as he greeted a man who appeared to be the leader.

"Hail, General Tullius!"

The man who wore more fancy armour than the others, nodded at the lower ranking soldier and returned to his conversation with a woman who had yellow skin, as well as sharp features that were accentuated by the black and gold outfit that she wore. If I recalled correctly she was a Thalmor, which was a group of elves who were basically Nazis in a fantasy setting.

Within the next few moments all the prisoners were made to get off the waggons. Which wasn't so bad as at least now I could stretch my legs. I'd started to feel a little stiff, unsurprisingly the transport we'd been using hadn't been designed with prisoner comfort in mind.

"What's happening? Why are we stopping?" the thief asked.

I noted that the man eyes were darting around wildly, and I wondered if I should tell him to stay calm. If he hung out at the back of the group he might still survive this. If he ran while everyone was distracted by the big scary dragon he had a chance of making it if he was fast on his feet.

"What do you think? End of the line" said the Stormcloak.

The soldiers made us line up, which I felt was super British as we were lining up for our executions, or at least we were queueing up to be sorted out before getting our heads chopped off.

When I got the front of the line I found an heavily armoured female, and a more lightly armoured man who was writing something on a scroll. Our identities were checked, and while I wasn't on the list they decided to kill me anyway because more the merrier I guessed. Also for some reason I couldn't fathom they thought my name was Gothic, and that I was a renegade from Cyrodiil. Neither of which was true. However protesting seemed like a rather bad idea, it was better to wait for the dragon and let the more noticeable people lose their heads.

"Step toward the block when we call your name, one at a time!" the armoured woman yelled.

The brown haired man read from one of the scrolls.

"Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm!" he called out.

The Nord leader was bound so he couldn't speak, but that didn't stop others from voicing their opinions on the guy. Not all of them were supportive. A few of the locals did no like the man one bit.

"It has been an honour.. Jarl Ulfric" one of the Stormcloaks whispered.

The Imperial man spoke the next name on his list.

"Ralof of Riverwood!" he said loudly.

The man called Ralof moved towards the chopping block, and the soldier in brown armour scribbled some more words on his scrolls.

"Lokir of Rorikstead!" he said next.

The horse thief Lokir did not face death with dignity.

"No! I'm not a rebel! You can't do this!" he protested.

He ran past the scary armoured lady, and up the incline.

"Archers!" she yelled.

When the arrows found their target no one screamed, and no one cheered.

"Anyone else feel like running?" we were then asked.

Of course no one did, they wanted to die with what little grace the Imperials offered them. What prevented that was General Tullius who decided to give Ulfric a public scolding, adding insult to what was going to be a fatal injury if that dragon didn't turn up soon.

"Ulfric Stormcloak. Some here in Helgen call you a hero" the general was saying "But a hero doesn't use a power like the Voice to murder his king and usurp his throne. You started this war, plunged Skyrim into chaos, and now the Empire is going to put you down to restore the peace".

I heard it, a roar of some kind that echoed across the sky, and I figured that it came from the mountains. I could feel it deep down, a dragon was coming. Of course I'd know about this, but I was somehow feeling it. Which was another sign of how much I'd changed since falling asleep last night.

"Did you hear that?" the man with the scroll asked.

It struck me that his name was Hadvar. I'd suddenly remembered that.

"Ignore it" the general ordered "Carry on".

The armoured woman clapped her fist against her chest-plate.

"Yes, General Tullius" she said.

As a hooded priestess was interrupted by an impatient Stormcloak, and another roar echoed through the sky.

"There it is again. Do you hear that?" Hadvar asked,

The Stormcloak who refused to have his Last Rites crouched down and willingly placed his head on the block.

"My gods are smiling at me, Imperials. Can you say the same?" he mockingly asked.

The armoured woman, who I was almost sure was called Lucretia, placed her boot at the fool's back, keeping him in place, not that she needed to. Then she nodded to the headsmen, and the axe was raised. It came down and a man died, as cheers and insults filled the air. I barely reacted at all, which was in of itself was worrying. I'd just seen someone die, it should be affecting me.

"You Imperial bastards!"

"Justice!"

"Death to the Stormcloaks!"

Now it was the turn of a man who wasn't a Stormcloak, he was a big fellow, and yet despite his size I hadn't noticed him until now. Could this be the Dragonborn?

I waited as the man was led to the block and made ready to die. I expected Alduin to appear any second now and save the day. Only he didn't and the man who might just have been the Dragonborn lost his hand, and with that the world was doomed.

Really I should have felt more upset about that, but since it happened to be my turn next I had other things on my mind.

"To the block, prisoner. Nice and easy" I was instructed.

I didn't move as before anyone could encourage me to do go anywhere, an evil looking dragon landed on a nearby tower

"Dragon!"

Everything went to hell, or at least close to it, and the only thing I was able to focus on was Ralof, who was motioning for me to follow.

"C'mon! The gods won't give us another chance!" he shouted at me.

Indeed they wouldn't.

"I'm with you" I said.

Before long I saw Ulfric who along with some others was taking shelter within what I guessed to be a watchtower.

"Jarl Ulfic, could the legends be true?" I heard someone asked.

"Legends don't burn down villages" was his reply.

Ralof then turned to me, having decided that it wasn't wise to stick around here.

"We have to get out of here. Up this way, let's go!" he shouted.

There were three of us who ran up the stairway, and soon there were only two as the world ending beast known as Alduin, burst its head through the wall.

 _"YOL... TOOR... SHUL!"_

To me that hadn't just been the roar of a dragon. I'd heard the words that made up the Shout very clearly. I was so startled by this and what it could mean that Ralof almost shoved me back down the steps without me realising that was going on.

"Dammit! Get back!" he yelled.

As soon as the scary monster was gone we went back up the stairs, and I looked out of the huge hole that the World-Eater had just made.

"See that building right over there? It's kind of a leap, but you can make it!" Ralof assured me "You'll have to jump down and make your own way. I'll try to meet up with you once I help the others! GO!"

Without protest, I leapt through the air and landed with surprising agility considering that I wasn't in the best of shape even with the recent weight lost. Plus my hands were still bound which made it harder to balance.

When I got out of the broken building, which I had time to notice was an inn, I saw the Imperial, the one who'd been doing the paperwork, and he was calling out to a boy that was cowering in fear of the dragon. He managed to get the boy moving, and once that was done he turned his attention to me. Given all the chaos going on it was impressive how calm he was staying.

"Still alive, prisoner? Stay behind me if you want to stay that way!" he called out "We need to head through here! C'mon!".

I saw a man who seemed to be an elderly blacksmith tending to the traumatised child that had the Imperial had just been trying to help. I spent just a moment thinking that the scene should make me feel something, however it didn't, so I wondered if I was in some sort of shock. However I had no time to dwell on this as I had some more running to do.

By now were running along a wall that lead past a burning building, when the horrible beast landed and used its claws to clutch onto a wall of stone, and lucky for me its attention was focused on a terrified archer who was loosing an arrow in a desperate attempt to slay the dragon.

 _"ZU'U UNSLAAD, ZU'U NIS OBLAAN!"_

The arrow flew straight and true, but I saw it shatter when it met the scales of the World-Eater, the dragon attacked back and burned the poor guardsmen, leaving only a charred corpse were a man had once stood. This was not something a person wanted to see, hear or smell.

"There's our chance!" the Imperial yelled "Let's move!"

The big scary dragon took off, flinging small pebbles and throwing clouds of dirt out in every direction. Which we used for cover, and soon we entered a courtyard which was a scene of utter mayhem. There were burned and mangled bodies strewn about, stragglers that were still struggling to understand what was happening, and the general who was trying to organise some sort of retreat.

"Hadvar! Move it soldier, into the Keep! We're leaving!" the high ranking officer yelled.

There was more running and then I saw that Ralof was approaching the both of us.

"Dammit Ralof, not this time! Out of the way!" Hadvar yelled.

He drew his sword and I noted that Ralof was carrying an axe. I'd really love a weapon right now, but no one seemed inclined to give me on. Not that I could have used it with my bound hands.

I ended up going with Ralof. He had, after all, helped me and seemed friendly despite the fact that I must look an Imperial to him. I followed the Stormcloak into a solid stone building, which offer some protection, although not much since I'd seen that the World-Eater could smash through stone walls.

As the door shut behind them, Ralof grabbed nearby plank and jammed it in the slide. At least that would keep any Imperials from following us, on the downside he'd also ensured that no civilians could escape the way we had. Which wasn't such a good thing.

"Let me cut those bindings" said the Nord.

Ralof approached me, while pulling out a dagger, which would normally make me nervous, but not this time. After a few moments of effort, the rope was cut. It fell to the floor, and then I was finally able to stretch my arms. An act that felt so good.

"You should take Gunjar's armour" I was advised "His axe too. he won't be needing them anymore"

The Nord walked over to his fallen brother's corpse, who had died in here while trying to escape I guessed, and knelt next to him and uttered words of respect. Then Ralof took the Stormcloak uniform off, and handed the items to me.

"Here," he said, once I had the armour "We have to get going"

I examined the tunic. It was clearly woven fabric, made to help a person resist the cold chill of Skyrim's winter weather. It also had an layer of chain-mail that mostly covered the stomach, collarbone, and shoulder area. While that was little in the way of protection it wouldn't be too heavy, and any defence at all was welcome in such a hostile place.

Once I was dressed I picked up the axe, and tested the weight. I was no warrior, but I could hit people with an axe. It wasn't a complicated thing to do.

Now that I was ready we made our deeper into what I assumed to be Helgan's Keep. A few moments after we got moving the two of us went quiet as just we'd heard someone heading our way.

"We'll catch them by surprise, get ready", the Nord whispered to me as he raised his axe.

The people heading our way sounded as if they were a man and woman, and it seemed the woman was the superior, or at least the more angry of them.

"Get this damn gate open!" she was yelling.

Upon seeing us the warrior woman unsheathed her blade, which gleamed bright despite how dark it was. The less experienced of the two soldiers looked as if might panic, but he pulled out his sword and got ready to fight. He charged at me and I backed away even my new Nord friend charged forward while bellowing out some sort of war cry.

Soon I was fending off the clumsy sword thrusts of the clearly inexperienced Imperial soldier, who didn't seem to really want to kill me, at least to start with, but within a very short period of time he got more eager to spill my blood. Which I didn't approve of as I liked my blood inside my body.

His actions forced me to defend myself with deadly force, and to that I drove the axe into the young man's head. Thankfully he died quickly, and by the time I was done killing my first human being my Stormcloak companion had finished his battle. This left me a moment to let the fact that I'd taken a life sink in somewhat, only it didn't have any negative effect on me. I was just glad to be alive. I wondered if I'd still feel that way once the adrenaline had worn off.

"Come one, grab whatever you need, and let's get out of here!" the Nord shouted.

I no desire to loot a corpse, that idea repulsed me, and this at least seemed like a reaction I would normally have. But that didn't stop me from taking a new looking mace, that was hanging on the wall. It seemed to be of better quality than the axe I'd been using, what they'd call castle forged steel in Game of Thrones I guessed, and a mace was just a metal club really so I should have an easy time using it.

Soon the two of us were running down a long stone hall into what seemed like the Keeps' basement. My Stormcloak ally stopped short of entering into the torchlight room upon hearing some Imperials struggling to dispatch a couple of Stormcloaks. We moved quickly, but with some stealth so that we could get a better idea of what was going on.

"Troll's blood, a torture room!" my Nord ally yelled.

With that he charged into the fray, but I hung back, remembering that there was a dead mage in one of the cells and perhaps a spell book. That was something I could find useful in the future.

(Line Break)

 **Wilderness. Skyrim.**

After what felt like a day or two spent underground we finally made it outside, and after avoiding death by dragon, killing some Imperials, then slaying some giant spiders, and creeping past a bear, it finally struck me that I was really in Skyrim.

This wasn't just some dream, in fact if anything it seemed more real than anywhere else I'd ever been. Which was both cool and worrying. I was indeed in the world of Elder Scrolls, and that was totally awesome for sure, as it a world full of magic and wonders, however it was also full of scary monsters that would want to kill and eat me, maybe not in that order.

Ralof moved quickly as he went and hid behind a rock, while beckoning me to do the same. As we hid, a shadow flew over us, and an ear splitting-roar as loud as thunder filled the air.

Then I saw the dragon, really saw him, and I discovered that Alduin looked far much larger in the flesh, even up in the air he was a terrifying sight to behold.

"There he is" my Stormcloak friend said "I think he's gone for good this time".

We waited until the dragon was totally out of sight before moving.

"Come on, we can catch a break in Riverwood, my sister Gerdur lives there" the rebel warrior told me "She'll help us, I'm sure, but we need to move quickly, it will be dark soon, and this land is dangerous enough during the day".

Together we jogged down the hill's rough path, through brush and down a dirt trail. While I was sure that we were both feeling tired the Nord didn't stop until we came across trio of three stones.

When I realised what they were I walked over to the ancient pillars, and saw that each one had a crude figure carved into it. There was a man who wielded a staff that had a crystal of a sort on top, another who wore a cloak and had a dagger in hand, and the last showed a man clad in armour, who had an axe ready for battle.

Becoming a crook held no interest for me, and while the idea of being able to cast spells was highly appealing, I knew that I had to be practical about this. Given the amount of fighting I would have to do just to survive in this world the warrior stone made the most sense. Not that this would stop me from learning magic sometime in the future, it was just that there was little point selecting the Mage Stone if I died before I could reach the College at Winterhold.

With that in mind I touched the standing stone with the warrior on. Immediately I felt my arm start to tingle in a pleasant way, and then some of sort energy coursed through me as a beam of energy shot off into the sky. The symbol lit up, the figures joints showing as dots, and then slowly the energy faded away.

"Good choice" the native man praised.

My new found status as a warrior was tested we encountered a pair of hungry looking wolves that circled us for a few moments before they pounced.

Ralof managed to cleave one across the face, as it leapt at him, but that was all I saw of his fight as I needed to focus on the animal which was going to try to make a meal out of me. With skill and strength I'd not either possessed before now, or had been unlocked by touching the stone, I brought my mace crashing down on the skull of the wolf. The beast yelped and fell to ground, now clearly dead.

"That was.. exhilarating" I said.

Rather than reply my new friend went and started skinning the creatures. I was a little grossed out at first, but as he worked I became impressed with his level of skill. Clearly he'd done this before, and in short order we had two pelts of wolf fur that were surprisingly not covered in much gore. One of the pelts ended up in my pouch of holding, which I'd gotten from the dead mage whose stuff I'd found in the torture chamber back in Helgan. The other Ralof took for his own purposes.

Once the grizzly task was done, the bodies of the wolves were thrown into the bushes for scavengers to pick at, the Nord and I got back on the path. The journey to the settlement took longer than I expected as and it was starting to get dark by the time we entered the village,

"Aye, that's it alright. Let me talk first, I'll need to explain you to my sister, if I can" my companion said.

I wasn't offended as I must look like quite a site to the locals, an Imperial in Stormcloak armour, bloody, battered, bruised, and with strange clothes under the armour.

"Good idea" I said.

And with that we walked into town.

(Line Break)

 **Riverwood. Skyrim.**

After spending the night in the Inn, which had given me a chance to get a badly needed hot meal and to read my spell book, I headed for the local store. I'd been able to pay for my room last night with gold I'd looted from the chest of confiscated goods in the torture chamber back in Helgan, but I would soon need more money.

As I walked to the traders place of business I was met by the sight of an argument. A man with short black hair and a face that had a lot of stubble on it stood behind a counter. Across the room, stood a woman who had her black hair up in a bun, and who wore a fairly decent looking brown dress. What I also noticed was the plate that was in the woman's hand. I didn't think she was going to carefully store it away.

"It's just a damn CLAW!" the woman called out.

She threw the plate, the man ducked as the thrown item shattered when it impacted the shelf behind him.

"Damn it woman!" the man yelled.

His attitude changed as soon as he saw me.

"Oh, hey there stranger" he greeted "The mame's Lucan, and the lady with the strong arm is my sister, Camilla".

So they were siblings fighting not lovers quarrelling. I'd suffered through both so I knew what it was like to have something breakable thrown at you by an irate female.

"Whaddya need?" he asked.

I noticed that by now the local woman had sat down and began knitting, or seamstressing, or whatever it was they called clothes making around here. Either she didn't want to argue in front of a stranger, or she'd calmed down very quickly.

As for me I began to empty my pouch of holding of everything I didn't want to keep. This included the mage robes I'd looted, some weapons I'd liberated from the Imperials, as well as a few other objects native to this reality, such as the Stormcloak armour.

Since this didn't add too as much gold as I'd hoped I was forced to part with most of what I'd brought into this world, which was for the best really, as my phone's battery had already died, and my wallet which contained money was about as useful here as a pile of leaves. I even handed over my shirt to the trader as it was of fine quality, at least compared to the stuff around here, but I kept my boots, jeans and t-shirt as I could wear most of it under the armour.

Still what was junk to some was treasure to others, even the pen in my pocket was unique here, and I was amused by the store owners efforts to act as if the items I laid before him were next to worthless, but he wasn't as subtle as he might like to think so I able to barter and get a bit more gold for my stuff.

This was good because I was going to need a proper set of armour if I was going to have any chance to reach the World Wall in Bleakfalls Barrow. As to why I needed to go there, well there was a chance that I was the Dragonborn, it would explain a few things, although not nearly enough, and if that was the case then the world might not be totally doomed after all.

"I couldn't help noticing your argument" I said the business man "Is it something I can help you with?".

While I didn't actually care about these people, the world was going to end if I didn't do something, and since I was stuck in this world I should at least try to save it, if only for my own sake. With this mind I figured that getting the golden claw quest was a good a place as any to start.

"Uh, oh that. Well our golden claw was stolen" I was told "My sister here says I should just 'let it go'. Like hell I will! That thing has been in our family for generations, and I'm not about to forget about it!".

I nodded as if I understood.

"Any idea where it went?" I asked.

As if I didn't know.

"We're fairly sure that it was that sneaky Dark Elf," Lucan said. "He came in earlier in the day, looked around a bit, and he asked how much I wanted for the claw, but he didn't press the point when I told him it wasn't for sale. He must have come back during the night and picked the lock on the door".

The elf was part of a group of bandits who should already be up at the Barrow.

"Faendal told me he'd seen the Dark Elf later," Camilla, said taking up the story, "up on the mountain, heading for Bleak Falls Barrow. It must be where he's hiding out".

As I'd expected.

"I'll recover it for you" I offered "I need to take a message to Whiterun, but I get the claw for you when I return. I doubt those bandits are going anywhere".

The man's eyes widened, and then he smile.

"You will? Great! Thank you so much, I will definitely repay you!" he promised.

I saw the woman, who I remembered was called Camilla, roll her eyes.

"Oh, brother" she muttered.

I'd seen that expression on the face of both of my sisters at some point. I also noticed how she smiled at me just a little as I turned to leave, intending to go see the blacksmith for some armour. I got the feeling that should I return with the claw that she wouldn't be rolling her eyes at me. She might even give me a proper smile.


	2. Chapter 2

**Dragonborn Gothic 1 - World-Eater**

 **Part 2**

 **Road. Skyrim.**

Not long after getting my badly needed armour, it wouldn't do to remain dressed as a Stormcloak if I encountered an Imperial patrol, as well as supplies for the trip ahead, I set off for Whiterun. I had a new steel sword on my belt, having been convinced by the blacksmith and my new warrior skills to use it, and I'd even tucked a dagger into a boot. Also I had what I hoped was a decent bow slung over my shoulder along with a small quiver of deadly looking arrows.

This had all cost me a lot, my pouch of holding now only held a fur cape and some food, which was cold meat, bread, cheese, and a bottle of mead. Two healing potions, which were all I'd been able to afford as gold gained from trading for my loot and personal items, hadn't gone as far as I would have liked, were also in the pouch of holding. Which was just an awesome thing to own.

All of that, along with the iron armour I was now wearing, weighed me down not nearly as much as it should have, and I didn't think that me touching the warrior stone could account for this. Something else had changed within me. I had to wonder if my soul had become that of a dragons, it would explain a lot, and I did wonder if I'd become less human than I used to be.

Well if anyone had an answers to my questions it would be the Greybeards, so I had best get the ball rolling and start with the main quest. If I was the Dragonborn then I had a long road ahead of me, both figuratively and the literal sense, and much depended on my success, which was a bit of a downer.

At least the scenery was quite beautiful, and the road ahead seemed clear, which would make the long journey ahead more pleasant, and it would be a long walk as Whiterun was actually miles from Riverwood. Skyrim was after all a whole country and as such it was a big place, far larger than the video game version, and more highly populated as well if Riverwood was any indication.

I didn't how large it was as the map I'd brought didn't give me an idea of the scale involved, I'd have a better idea of the distances involved once I'd worked from Riverwood to Whiterun as while they were close together on the map there was still a little gap between them on the map.

At least the road followed the river, sometimes it was right alongside the water, which meant it was highly unlikely that I'd get lost since I'd been assured by a few of the locals that if I followed the water I'd see the city. Hopefully I'd get there before sunset as I knew Skyrim well enough to understand that I did not want to get lost and end up wandering around aimlessly in the woods in the day time nevermind in the dark.

As it turned out the dangers of this wild land found me even without me wandering off into the wilderness. Along the way I was ambushed by two wolves, who'd been hiding in the brush. I froze for just a second and then drew my new sword, the handle of which felt good and solid in my hand. I knew the the blade was sharp I'd seen it being sharpened so it should serve me well.

The beasts seemed starved to me, and while they eyed me with caution, hunger drove them I could just tell so they would soon attack, but these canines were much more cautious than the pair I'd met yesterday. I'd not been alone back then, so I should be more vulnerable this time, yet the furry creatures waited a little while before they attacked.

I knew that there was no sense in running, even without all the armour weighing me down they could easily catch me. My only chance to survive was to hold my ground and either slay or the beasts or at least to convince them to go find some food elsewhere.

With an impressive leap the larger of the two wolves went for my throat, which was more vulnerable than the rest of my body, however the teeth never found my flesh as I swung my new blade with all the strength I could muster. Which somehow resulted in the beast impacting my shoulder and knocking me to the ground.

I quickly got back to my feet, and that proved to the correct thing to do as the other wolf tried to bite down on my leg, had I remained still it could have sunk its teeth in. I wore Branded Iron Armour, which didn't protect my legs as well as other parts as the armour's boots only went so high.

The boots did serve me well when it came to kicking. I struck the feral creature in the nose, and when it yelped in pain I used that moment slash with my sword a few times which ended the life of this enemy. Leaving me still breathing, which meant that I could enjoy my victory.

Once that I was done there were a few moments spent wondering if I should attempt to harvest the bad dogs for their pelts, but I lacked the skill for such a thing, and I had no desire to touch any corpses. I'd just have to acquire gold some other way.

Before long I got moving again, and despite keeping needing to keep an eye for attack I did take in some more of the scenery, and I made good time to the city. I even passed by a squad of Imperials who were escorting what I guessed to be a capture Stormcloak, which was something I ignored as I felt no loyalty to the Stormcloaks as a whole just because one of them had helped me out.

I got to a bend in the road and after that I found that ahead of was the the city of Whiterun. It was a walled town that had been built on a rocky hill, so it looked as if was rising high above the plains that surrounded the settlement. Which made the city a lot easier to find, and that was good for me.

While the city, which wasn't much of a city compared to where I came from, was still quite some distance away, and the details were indistinct, it was still an impressive sight, if only because I realised now that I was actually looking at Whiterun. Not for the first time I had to stop and take a moment to remind myself that I'd somehow found my way to a magical fantasy land.

What made this even more cool was the fact that I had magical powers. Okay so right now all I could do was make some sparks fly out my finger tips, but I knew that should I survive long enough, and somehow kill dragons, that I'd be able to do so much more.

After taking in the sights for a while I got moving once again and discovered the land around Whiterun happened to be devoted to farming. A lot of farming in fact, it went on for miles, and I walked through a lot of it as the city wasn't as close as I'd first thought.

I saw rows of cabbages and other stuff that I could, and sometimes couldn't, identify. I'd never been a countryside kind of person, not counting day trips, however I'd spent time on allotments and I'd worked in my mother's vegetable garden enough to know some of what was getting grown around here.

Before long I found something far more interesting to look than cabbages. In one of the fields three warriors were fighting against a giant. An actual giant, not just a big human either, it was most certainly not human even if it was humanoid.

Aside from the World-Eater this was the first time I'd seen a non-human sentient life form, and Alduin hadn't exactly given me time to look him over. My memories of playing the game reminded me that there was an elf living in Riverwood, I'd just not seen him.

This creature it towered over the human warriors, it was at least twice their height, maybe three times, and it was waving a club around that must be eight feet long. It was also blue, and had an impressive amount of facial hair, and a loincloth. Making it look like an overgrown and very cold caveman.

As I watched the fight I saw one of the humans, who I knew to really be a werewolf, take a blow from the club and get sent flying back at least ten feet. Which wasn't so surprising as they were suppose to be incredibly strong creatures. I'd hate too get close to one.

The other warriors kept up their attacks, preventing the giant from following up on its successful strike, but it was apparent that they were having to work hard to avoid losing the fight. I knew that I should help, if only to make the Companions, which were the Fighter's Guild of Skyrim in some sense, more kindly inclined towards me. I was going to need allies if I had any hopes of surviving for long in this amazing and savage land.

Despite the fact that my emotions had been somewhat off recently my hands trembled slightly as I fitted an arrow to the bowstring, and pulled it back. I didn't know if this was fear or excitement behind the unsteadiness, either way I had to struggle to calm my body.

Until now I'd only ever fired a bow at a stationary and very much not living target, lucky for me the giant wasn't moving around that much and it was big enough that I was reasonably confident that I'd manage to hit it. Whether or not the arrow would achieve anything was another matter. Still I took aim, as best I could, and released the projectile.

As soon as the arrow struck the target I reached into my quiver, extracted another arrow, and quickly lined up another shot. This felt oddly natural I wondered if I was somehow channelling the spirit of some long dead ancestor who'd been a Welsh archer.

When the first arrow had hit the giant roared, but it was only when the second arrow struck true that it turned to face me. Which was not a good thing I told myself as I reached for a third arrow. The third time better be the charm when it came to these arrows.

I was pulling back the string of my bow as the giant began to stride toward me, its long legs easily eating up the distance between us. It was terrifying how something so big could also be so fast

When my third hit higher and seemed to sink in deeper into the giant's body it actually stopped the large humanoid in its tracks. The giant halted, pulled the arrow out of its body, and then advanced on me again. I'd barely slowed it down.

At this point I felt like turning and running, some animal part of me greatly desired that, but in the struggle between fight and flight the fight part somehow won. So inside of running into the nearby woods, which might have made a good hiding place I nocked a fourth arrow and fired it. An action that result in nothing more than the huge humanoid stopping again in order to pull out the arrow.

What saved my life was that the giant's two brief halts had given one of the Companions, a big dark haired guy, a chance to catch up. A sword swung, slashing across the back of the giant's legs, staggered the creature as it tried to turn around.

Then an arrow struck the big ass blue due in the neck, either a lucky shot or one aimed with far more precision than I could manage. Yet still it wasn't enough, the massive caveman simply would not die, and it seemed to be determined to kill us all.

The arrow that I'd been about to let loose as my last desperate act was now set free, and hit the giant in the shoulder, and the big blue guy didn't react. I'd used my five arrows, and none of them had cheap, and all I'd gotten in exchange for them was to upset a creature that I could have avoided fighting if I'd just minded my own damn business.

This was when the warrior who had been knocked down a little while earlier charged back into the fight. He took a mighty swing at the giant's legs and one leg buckled. The giant toppled and the two sword-wielders fell on it with blades swinging. Their attacks had all the style and grace of crazy men with axes, but credit where credit was due, they got the job done.

I was left standing there, trying to calm myself as the adrenaline began to wear off. I suddenly felt very tired and hungry, despite have slept surprisingly well last night, and had eaten just this morning.

While I got myself under control the female werewolf came over to either kill me for interfering or to thank me for aiding in battle, I had no idea which. With some so called honourable warrior types the difference between helping and getting in the way could mean thanks or a sword in the gut.

As she closer I noticed that she wore armour that was mainly brown leather but with large steel shoulder-plates and wrist guards, with a few smaller pieces of steel armour as well. Her leather skirt ended well above her knees, which was enticing, and she had three diagonal stripes of war-paint all the way across her face. The overall effect was to make her quite an intimidating figure, as well as somewhat sexy.

"You handle yourself well," the woman said, in approving tones.

Then something weird happened, and given my life lately that was really saying something, the woman leaned in and sniffed me. I knew she was a werewolf, but still this was odd behaviour.

"You should come to Jorrvaskr with us" she then said.

Soon the man with the two-handed sword joined us. He sure was a big fella, six feet tall at least, and he looked as if armour could barely contain his massive form.

"You look strong," he stated "Aela is right, you should join the Companions".

I might do that, I could sure do with the help if I was going to be facing dragons.

"We are brothers and sisters in honour," Aela told me "We show up to sort out problem if the coin is good enough. I believe you would fit in well".

I didn't know why, they were all clearly superior fighters to me, I'd distracted and annoyed the giant, nothing more.

"Let me think about it" I requested.

Since I didn't have the knowledge of the technology necessary to bring about an Industrial Revolution, and then the Information Age, that meant that my jobs skills were mostly useless in this realm of existence. I did have some retail experience, that combined with my ability to read and write, which weren't common skills in pre-industrial societies, could get me a job at a store, but what was the point of living in a fantasy land if it ended in me getting a nine to five job? Besides I might the sole hope for this world, although for the sake of the people it might be better if the Dragonborn was just running a little late and was just now entering Skyrim.

"I have to deliver a message to the Jarl before I can do anything else" I said.

That was my priority because it not only did it mean that I would be following the main quest line, which I had clear memories of, it also meant that I would be doing what I'd promised to do, and a man was only as good as his word. Besides if I did end up doing merc work for a living it would be good to be known as someone who did the work he promised that he would do.

"When you have done that, come to Jorrvaskr and see Kodlak Whitemane," the big man said, as he wiped the blade of his two handed sword with a cloth. "If he thinks you are worthy you will be in. I shall speak for you".

Well I might have saved his life by distracting the giant. If he believed that then it would explain his offer to speak for me.

"For now, though, I think you deserve a share of the coin for this job" the big man added.

Money was of the good.

"You're right, Farkas," said Aela.

She put a hand into a pouch, pulled out a leather purse, that was nearly as big as the pouch, suggesting that it was bigger on the inside, and tipped some coins into her other hand.

"Here," she said, offering the money to me "A fourth share of what we are to be paid. Seems fair".

I thanked her.

"Speaking of pay," said the other male Companion, "we should go and collect what we are owed from Pelagia",

Yes it was time to part ways. I did have a job to do.

"And I need to get to the Jarl" I said,

The two male werewolves left, but Aela did not leave.

"I'll leave the boys to collect the pay" she said "I'll come back to Whiterun with you and show where we Companions make our home".

Whatever her interest in me was I didn't have time to dwell on it, but I couldn't help liking how she paid me attention. However I had a job to do, so I got walking.

Taking the path toward the city led me past some stables, and a stationary cart that looked just like the one in which I had ridden to my execution in. Beyond that, on the other side of the path, was a little encampment of dome-shaped tents, possibly they were yurts of some sort, it didn't really matter. It happened to be the occupants of the tents who interest

"Khajiit has wares" one of the cat people said, in a voice that was very human but seemed to have a little purr in it "if you have coin?".

While it was incredible to see real life cat people, now wasn't the time for shopping, however I would return later just to get a closer look.

"I have an errand to run right now, but perhaps I'll have a chance to browse your goods later" I replied.

Aela didn't get too close to the cat people. Which amused me as she was partly canine and they were human shaped cats.

"May your road lead you to warm sands," it said.

Which I assumed was a blessing of sort.

"And yours too," I said.

The outer wall of the city lay just past that little encampment. Banners depicting a highly stylized horse's head hung from the wall and guards patrolled the ramparts. Two guards stood in front of the gates. And as I approached one of them stepped forward before addressing me.

"Halt!" he ordered.

He wore armour in the same style as that of the Stormcloaks but covered by a light brown tabard instead of a blue gambeson. His face was entirely hidden by a helmet, but it didn't seem to muffle his voice too much.

"The city is closed to strangers while there are dragons about" I was informed.

This didn't stop them from letting Aela in, but she lived within the city.

"I came to tell the Jarl about the dragon attack on Helgen" I let the guard know "Also I have a message from the people of Riverwood, they are asking for aid in defending their village".

The guard didn't need to spend much time thinking about letting me in or not.

"I'll let you in, the Jarl will want to know about this," he said "Make your way up to Dragonsreach, at the highest level of the city, and ask for an audience".

Once I got inside the city I took in the sites. Right next to the front gates was a blacksmith who offered me her services. This blacksmith was a woman, which wasn't so odd in this land, however on my world during the medieval period of history this would be strange. Gender equality didn't seem to be much of an issue here. However advertising seemed to be as the blacksmith again tried to get me to buy something from her store.

"I don't need anything like that at the moment," I told the lady "I need to get to Dragonsreach".

Upon hearing this the blacksmith smiled.

"As it happens I have made a sword as a gift for Jarl Balgruuf the Greater. It's a surprise, and I don't know if he'll even accept it, but could you take the sword to my father I'd be grateful" she requested "He's Proventus Avenicci The Jarl's steward up at Dragonsreach. He'll know the right time to present it to the Jarl. As you are going up there anyway".

Seemed odd to trust something like this to a stranger, but Aela was again standing with me so that might have something to with it, or maybe I just looked to be the honest type.

"Sure" I said.

I was going that way so there seemed to no reason to refuse her request.

"Thank you," the blacksmith said, as she handed me the two handed weapon.

I made my way through the streets and soon came across a large market square that was bordered by shops and an inn, which I was sure I'd be staying at tonight as the day was quickly disappearing as nighttime approached.

The market was already closing down despite the number of people still wandering around. I imagined that with the city there wasn't much commerce taking place. Plus it might not be safe to be on the streets at night even with the high walls and guards. I remembered well that there were vampires in this world, but I'd worry about them later.

Once I was beyond the stores I ascended a flight of steps and found a dead tree, which was surrounded by seating somewhat resembling park benches. To one side of the park was an extensive residential district and to the other side was a much more unusual feature. A large building stood atop a rise and it appeared to have a roof constructed out of an inverted Viking ship. It even had the rows of round shields on the sides.

"That is our mead hall" Aela told me as she began walking towards the building "Perhaps we shall meet again inside its walls".

I said nothing to her and focused my attention on the statue, which was the image of a warrior who wore a winged helmet, he was stabbing down with a sword at a coiled, serpentine creature. A shrine to Talos, he had been a dragonborn hadn't he. I struggled to remember.

Stood in front of the statue was a man in robes, who was waving his arms, and ranting in the manner of a street preacher. No-one paid him the slightest bit of attention. He might have been one of those people who hung around yelling at people with a 'the end is nigh' signs. Ironically the end was nigh.

Straight ahead was a path that led to even more steps, several flights of them in fact, and I while giving my feet a moment to rest, I noted the water cascading down in a series of mini-waterfalls to each side of the steps and emptying into two large ornamental pools. The overall effect was quite beautiful.

Some guards once again tried to deny me entry when I finally made it to Dragonsreach, while allowing the people they knew to pass freely. Once I explained why I was here they let me pass without trouble, and I headed to far side of the great hall, which was where the Jarl could be found.

As I got closer to the local lord I saw that a dark skinned woman who wore a set of leather armour and had taken out her sword. However really got my attention was how alien this woman looked, she was an elf, what the locals would call a Dark Elf, and what I thought of as a Drow.

"What is the meaning of this interruption?" the Drow asked demanded to know "The Jarl is not be disturbed".

For the third time I had to explain to someone why I wanted to see the Jarl.

"Well, that explains why the guards let you in," said the Drow as she sheathed her sword. "Come with me. The Jarl will want to speak to you personally".

With that she led me towards the throne. I saw the Jarl, he was a middle aged in terms of years, but lean and tough looking. Which made sense as in a warrior society you needed to remain physically strong if you wanted to rule. His clothes were trimmed with gold cloth, a fur cape was spread over his shoulders, and a circlet of gold set with jewels sat on his brow.

He lounged on his throne, looking far more relaxed than he should given all that was going on, I figured that he hiding his true emotions and projecting a causal aura so as not to let people know just how worried he really felt. If so then I was about to deal with a shrewd man.

"Were you at Helgen?" the Jarl asked me "Did you see this dragon with your own eyes?".

Oh boy had I. Really it was a small miracle that I wasn't being plagued with nightmares after what I'd seen.

"I did, my lord" was what I said in reply.

While I had no idea how to address a man of his rank I figured that I'd been polite enough.

"Tell me what happened" the local leader commanded of me.

I took a deep breath before starting.

"The Imperials were about to execute Ulfric Stormcloak," I told the VIP, purposely failing to mention why I'd been there "and then the dragon attacked. It was a large black beast, and nothing seemed to hurt it. It killed a lot of people and set fire to most of the buildings. I doubt much of the place is still standing. I managed to escape the dragon with some help and make my way to Riverwood. Which is calling for aid. I was sent to request that help from you as well to tell you about the dragon attack".

Once I was finished the Jarl turned to the man who was his advisor and steward if I remember correctly. He also the man I'd come to deliver the two handed sword to, but that could wait.

"Hear that, Proventus? What do you say now? Shall we continue to trust in the strength of our walls against a dragon?" he asked.

The Drow spoke before Proventus could reply.

"My lord," she said "we should send troops at once. Riverwood is in the most immediate danger. If that dragon is lurking in the mountains".

Proventus tried to oppose that idea, giving some political reason that really didn't matter given that the world was ending, and thankfully the ruler overruled him.

"Enough!" the Jarl snapped. "I'll not stand idly by while a dragon burns my hold and slaughters my people. Irileth, send a detachment to Riverwood at once".

Well that was my task done. Now I had to worry about getting that tablet from the barrow.

"Yes, my Jarl," the Drow said

She quickly headed out the door.

"In that case, if you'll excuse me, I'll return to my duties," said Proventus, somewhat stiffly.

The Jarl assented to this.

"Uh, excuse me, sir,"I said, as Proventus was turning to leave. "I was asked to deliver something to you by your daughter".

I would need every coin I could get so I best get the tip now.

"From Adrianne? Ah, yes, I know what it must be," Proventus said. "Come this way."

He stopped a little distance from the throne platform and accepted the sword from me. Which I'd been carrying this entire time, and it was not light in weight.

"I'll present it to the Jarl at another time, when he's feeling more agreeable," he said in a low voice.

Then in a more normal voice he spoke again.

"Thank you. Here, take these few coin" he said next "for services rendered".

The tip was only a few small coins, but I knew that these few coins could mean the difference between a meal and starvation at some point.

After the Jaral called me over and asked me my name. I used the name Gothic as I knew that this man wouldn't care if the Imperials had me on list of people who should have had their heads removed at Helgan. Besides my real name didn't make me sound like someone who was going to do anything heroic.

"There is another thing you could do for me. Suitable, perhaps, for someone of your talents" said the Jarl "Come with me to see Farengar, my court wizard. He's been looking into what we thought were just rumours of dragons. Now that we know that they are real his work is of the utmost importance".

I followed the noble to a room that was just off to the side. This Farengar fellow had a nice set up, a couple of desks, lots of books on the shelves that lined the room. As well alchemy equipment, what I knew to be vital equipment for enchanting, and some other stuff. I even noticed a crystal ball, and wondered if they worked in this world.

"Farengar," said the Jarl, "I think I've found someone who can help you with your dragon project. Go ahead and give him the details"

Without another word the lord of this land turned and went back to the main hall. Seemed odd to me that I was being given this vital task, and that me wonder if the Jarl was under the impression that the tablet of dragon burial sites didn't exist. There would be sense sending valuable troops on an expedition if he didn't believe there was any point.

"So the Jarl thinks you can be of use to me?" the wizard said. "Oh, yes, he must be referring to my research into the dragons. Yes, I could use someone to fetch something for me. Well, when I say fetch, I really mean delve into an old Nordic ruin in search of an ancient stone tablet that may or may not actually be there".

I didn't say anything, I didn't need to. Farengar was happy to keep talking.

"When we received reports that a dragon had been sighted I began consulting my sources," the wizard said. "I learned of a certain stone tablet, said to be housed in Bleak Falls Barrow; a 'Dragonstone' that holds a map of dragon burial sites. Go to Bleak Falls Barrow, find the tablet, which is no doubt in the main chamber and bring it to me. Simplicity itself".

No surprises here. Everything was proceeding as I'd expected, and while this might seem like a good thing there was a downside, as if I was the Dragonborn I could become super powerful, it also meant that the fate of this entire world rested upon me, which was not ideal for me as I was not the hero type.

"I'll either return with the tablet or I'll be dead" I told the mage.

A moment later I was heading out of the castle, and down into to the marketplace. I knew that I would have time to dine at the tavern this evening and for a quick bit of shopping before I left in the morning. I could do with finding some enchanted items to help me fight better, or at maybe more spell books.

I wouldn't be able to stay long as I wanted to return to Riverwood before nightfall tomorrow so that I seek some help. I had a feeling that I couldn't do this alone.


	3. Chapter 3

**Dragonborn Gothic 1 - World-Eater**

 **Part 3**

 **Riverwood. Skyrim.**

To me it had made the most sense to return to Riverwood and then head out to Bleak Falls Barrow the next day, rather than to head straight there. Not only did this allow to me get some rest after a long walk, I was also able to resupply, and most importantly I was able to recruit some help.

While I may have had some luck if I'd gone to the Companions, it was doubtful that I could have afforded their services, and I had no desire to join them as a member right now as there were important matters that I needed to attend to. Such as preventing the End of Days. There was little point joining the Fighter's Guild if everyone died, there would be no one to hire me.

My choice of whom to seek aid from become obvious once I thought about it. There was one person in Riverwood who was willing to take action in order to do something about the dragon attacks, and had the skills to aid me in the coming quest.

She was Delphine, a former Blade, they had been a group of people who'd protected the Emperor. Anyone who'd played Elder Scrolls Oblivion knew what they were about. The group didn't really exist anymore, but there were a couple of them left here in Skyrim, hiding from the Thalmor.

"I'd rather that didn't become common knowledge," Delphine said to me, once I had explained that I knew she was a Blade "I have… enemies".

By that she was referring to the Thalmor, those Nazis elves I'd seen at Helgan.

"Don't worry, I'll keep my mouth shut," I assured the woman who was not the harmless innkeeper that she appeared to be "I wouldn't want to get on your bad side".

The Blades were well trained warriors who used katanas, and I'd seen enough movies to know how deadly those things could be. Plus I was now in her secret basement room, which was more secure than in the game, so if she killed me down here then no one would even notice.

"I'm after something called the Dragonstone" I told the warrior woman "The Jarl's wizard asked me to find it".

Lucky for me the task of recruiting Delphine hadn't been too much trouble so far. I'd told her that I believed that I might the Dragonborn, and that I might have a way to prove it, one that didn't involve trying to slay a dragon. After some discussion I'd even admitted that I knew stuff that other people did not know, and that I was letting this knowledge guide me.

Since I couldn't explain video games to Delphine I'd told her that I didn't understand where this knowledge came from. Hopefully she would put it down to the work of the gods, who in this reality were an active force in people's lives, even if their work was mostly invisible.

"I was going to give it to Farengar Secret-Fire myself," Delphine told me. "We're pooling our research. If you help me recover the stone I'll trust you enough to take it to him, and get the reward".

Well first of all we had to recover the tablet.

"Met on the other side of the bridge in an hour" Delphine instructed "I have a few things I need to do before we get going".

I was sure that she suspected that this could all be some sort of Thalmor trick. If I were her I'd quickly check out the path to the barrow before coming to the bridge. But since this wasn't a trap for the Blade I didn't worry about that. There were many other things for me to worry about.

Like how I'd somehow become involved in the love triangle between Camilla, the sister of the guy who ran the local store, and her two suitors, both of which were jerks. I'd already taken letters from both of them and given them to Camillia so that she could deal with the matter herself. Hopefully that possibly good deed wouldn't end up biting me in the ass.

Also the dragons, I really shouldn't forget about the dragons.

(Line Break)

 **Bleak Falls Barrow. Skyrim.**

After dealing with a few bandits who'd been hanging around in the entrance hall, we descended into the Barrow via a winding tunnel. It was surprisingly well lit, with burning braziers and candles that provided more than adequate illumination and so there was no need to light a torch, or to employ any sort of magical night vision, which was a thing in this world. Which at some point in the near future I should look into as tomb raiding a regular passtime for adventures.

You'd think by now that all the tombs had been fully raided and that there would be no treasure left to loot, and while the upper level of this barrow had been picked clean by the bandits I knew that most places like this would be full of stuff for me to take.

This made some sense in a video game as it gave the PC (the playable character) something to do, but it didn't make sense when you were actually in Skyrim. Not unless nearly everyone other than I was held back from tomb raiding by superstitious fear, and given that these Barrows did contain the walking dead that might actually be the reason.

I really wasn't as well prepared for this trip as I would have liked to have been. Magical items were pretty expensive. Plus unlike in the game you actually had to eat, drink and sleep, and those things weren't free, combined with my need to keep myself well armed and armoured, and I was spending quite a bit of money on just keeping myself alive.

This had resulted in me selling both my boots and leather jacket, and while I'd gotten a good deal for them, that money wouldn't last me for long. Hopefully there would be some valuable loot that I could recover during this quest, and maybe even some magical items.

"The bandits must have explored deep into the barrow," Delphine remarked. "I doubt if they will have taken the Dragonstone, they would have been after more obvious stuff like gold and jewels, but it is a possibility".

As I'd expected Delphine had cleared the way to the Barrow before meeting me as she had mad ninja skills, and we'd both dealt with the crooks on the top level of the Barrow. Which had given me a chance to see the Blade in action. She was indeed ninja.

"The golden claw I was told about should be on person of a Dark Elf" I informed Delphine "I think we'll need it".

Rather than question me more on how I could no such a thing the Blade and I kept moving. There was little point discussing it as if I was wrong she'd find that out soon enough, and if I was right about what I knew she'd also discover that and know to trust me, at least to come extent.

Before long we reached a large chamber that had an exit which was barred by a lowered portcullis. A lever, which I knew to be the opening mechanism for the portcullis, stood in front of it. A dead bandit was sprawled beside the lever. It wasn't hard to figure out what had happened.

"Poison darts," Delphine explained, after a cursory examination of the body. "The lever triggers the trap. It's not safe to open unless you know the combination".

She pointed to where three small pillars, each bearing symbols depicting various animals, stood at the side of the chamber.

"These need to be rotated into the correct combination" Delphine needlessly told me.

She began to rearrange the stones.

"Those stones up there" she explained to me, "tell us which symbols are the right ones".

I'd often wondered why the solution to these puzzles were so simply.

"Why have the answer to the puzzle in plain sight?" I asked "It seems a little pointless".

The Blade shrugged.

"It killed this idiot," Delphine said. "Perhaps the idea was to kill only the foolish while allowing those who show some intelligence to pass".

That did make some sense, and there were monsters out there which could work a lever, but would not understand the puzzle, some humans as well.

"The ancient Nords are long dead" Delphine then added "And we can only guess at their motivations just as they would struggle to understand some of things we do".

Before long the portcullis slid upward, which meant the way onward was now clear.

"You're a bit of a puzzle yourself," Delphine remarked, as we went through the doorway and into the room beyond "How much adventuring have you done?".

While the woman talked I noted there was a lever on the wall, presumably to operate the portcullis from that side, and an alcove in which there was a chest. This part of the Barrow had been looted as well, either recently by the Dark Elf, or some time ago by someone who was smart enough to figure out the puzzle.

"Not much" I admitted "If I was a veteran at this sort of thing I wouldn't have asked for your help".

The Blade studied me for a moment.

"I'd better let me take the lead, then," Delphine decided "Are you any good with that bow?".

Indeed I was still carrying a quiver, which I had restocked with arrows, as well as a new string for my bow.

"Only against targets," I confessed "And a giant".

I'd only been able to hit the giant because it had been so large.

"Just do your best, and try not to hit me," said Delphine.

After saying that she led the way down a wooden spiral staircase. Halfway down the stairs we were attacked by three creatures resembling rats, only they were too big to be normal rats. Giant rats were a pretty common sight in adventure games. Since I'd known they were coming I was prepared and therefore able to kill one of the rats with little trouble

At the bottom of the stairs we emerged into a chamber with a another corridor descending further into the barrow on the far side. Delphine stopped to examine something that lay on a stone table in the center of this underground room.

"A scroll of Fireball," she told me "I'm surprised this has just been left here. It looks new. Perhaps the elf that took the claw left it here".

She paused in the act of stashing the scroll away in a pouch, as well as the bottle of something that I knew better than to touch.

"I can hear a voice" she then said "up ahead."

Before long I heard a male voice that seemed to be calling for help. Delphine didn't rush to the rescue but moved on slowly and cautiously. Which seemed wise so I copied her actions.

"Is that you Harknir? Bjorn? Soling?" called out the voice. "I know I ran ahead with the claw and I'm sorry. I need help!".

The entrance to another room, which contained the source of that voice, was blocked by a dense mass of web.

"Be ready for a fight" the Blade warned me.

She then sliced through the webs and stepped through the gap. I followed and we found ourselves in a large chamber that was covered in cobwebs from floor to ceiling. I could see the Dark Elf, who was struggling to get free, as well as the wrapped up bodies of giant rats, and even a few people. Guess I now knew why only the upper levels of this barrow had been looted.

When the massive spider appeared Delphine drew her katana and charged. Before I could draw my sword Delphine was already in combat, slashing at the horrible creature, and managing to keep its huge fangs.

What exactly motivated me to drop my sword and use my bow was something I didn't know, but there was no time to think on it anyway so I nocked an arrow, took aim at the spider's massive rear end, which was now close to me as Delphine was moving around a lit while fighting, and before long I loosed the projectile.

I got another arrow ready, but it wasn't necessary. Delphine's blade cut through one of the spider's limbs and then, as the spider lurched and staggered, the warrior drove her sword between the monster's fangs and deep into the arachnid's head. It uttered a high-pitched hissing shriek, its legs gave way, and it flopped to the ground very, very dead.

Once the deed was fone Delphine pulled free her katana, wiped it clean on the corpse she had just made, and slid it back into its sheath. She then noticed my arrow.

"Didn't do the thing much harm, but it was still a nice shot" she commented.

Yes I was rather pleased with it.

"That Warrior Stone thing that I touched. Ever since I touched it the fighting has become a lot easier" I mentioned.

Although marksmanship might be a thief skill, so I might just be making use of a natural talent I'd never taken the time to nurture. Not that it mattered right now.

"Ah," Delphine said. "Yes, that would explain it. The power of the Guardian Stones, the Divines must have blessed you".

Further conversation came to an end as the voice that had called for help was shouting again, frantically yelling in fact

"Cut me down!" he demanded.

As I'd seen just a short time ago there was a man was trapped in the webs on the far wall, entirely wrapped up, unable to move.

"You did it! You killed it!" the Dunmer shouted as I came over to him "Now, cut me down before anything else shows up".

After putting away my bow, I picked up my sword, went over the sort of Drow, and jabbed him with it. Delphine was busying herself with the spider, collecting some of its venom I guessed. I didn't really want to know.

"First you're going hand over that claw you stole from Lucan" I demanded.

Since I knew the guy was as crooked as could be, he would get nothing from me until I had the claw, and if he was lucky I might let him live.

"Do I look as if I can reach my pouch?" the Dunmer pointed out. "Cut me down first"

While I began to do my best to cut away the webbing Delphine's katana came out and slashed through the tough material with ease. My steel longsword wasn't designed to cut like a katana could, and I wasn't anywhere near as skilled with weapons as the Blade was.

The Dunmer dropped to the ground, revealing that behind him was a passageway. He immediately whirled and ran for it. However since I'd known all along that he was going to do that I caught up to him within a few strides. I grabbed him by the collar of his armor and jerked him backward. He tried to resist but he wasn't strong enough, and I had a sword to poke him the back with.

Without much trouble I dragged him back into the chamber and Delphine rested the point of her katana on the Dark Elf's neck, the tip was very sharp I was sure that it wouldn't take much to cut the skin.

"If you want to live tell me: Why did you steal the claw?" the warrior woman demanded to know.

Smartly she was seeking to confirm what little I had told her about this this place. And while the Dunmer, to use the local term, was a criminal I didn't he'd dare to be anything less than honest right now.

"It's the key to a fortune," he explained. "The treasure of the ancient Nords lies within, in the Hall of Stories, with a puzzle to keep out the unworthy. But the legend says that if you have the Golden Claw the solution is in the palm of your hands".

Well not quite, it was on the back of the claw. Which again seemed too simple, but then why would anyone build a combination lock for a tomb? I only conclude that the someone had set this all up so that whomever wanted to get to the World Walls would have to prove that they had basic intelligence as well as physical might.

"Hand it over," Delphine commanded.

The Dunmer opened up his pouch, which like mine was bigger on the inside, and extracted a gilded object that was about the size of a large human hand but with three long claws, rather than fingers.

"Hmm," said Delphine, while taking the claw and examining it. "Three Nordic symbols. Bear, moth, owl. They must be the answer to a puzzle lock that doesn't have the clues in plain sight".

She placed the golden claw in her own pouch, clearly not yet ready to trust me with it, not that I blamed her.

"Your friends are all dead. Get out of here and thank the Divines that we're not killing you too" she then said to the dark elf.

With that the Dunmer ran off in the direction of the staircase.

"You know he might try following us" I said to Delphine.

She didn't seem concerned.

"I'll know if he does" she told me.

Soon we were off again, heading further into Barrow, and deeper underground. Before long we finally came across something we could loot. A soul gem. Delphine examined the gem, before handing it to me.

"A Common Soul gem," she said. "Empty, unfortunately, but still worth something. You might as well have it. If nothing else you can trade it for a hot meal and a bed for the night".

Both of those things sounded so tempting right now.

"Come on, this way" Delphine urged.

The way ahead was still well lit, and also it contained mummified bodies. Grey-skinned, withered, with teeth showing behind shrunken lips. I knew that these things worked to maintain the Barrow, which was why the torches were lit and the traps still worked, well mostly. I'm sure the giant spider setting up in one of the chambers had made their work more difficult and that bandits had lit up the torches up above.

There seemed to be two types of the undead around here. Ones with armour and weapons, and ones without. My guess was that some were meant to defend and others were the workers. However some of the bodies were wrapped up in old cloth so I guess not everyone here spent their afterlife as zombies.

My trail of thought about the maintenance and defence of dungeons in magical fantasy lands, came to a sudden end when one of the mummies moved. It climbed out of the niche, stood up, and raised a sword and shield.

"Draugr!" Delphine yelled

She moved to engage it but then two more of the dead climbed from their alcoves and attacked us, so I knew that I had to take action. The next few seconds were a frantic whirl of action. I drew my sword and took my new shield out of my pouch, so that I could slash, parry, block and slash again. I was vaguely aware of Delphine doing the same but my attention was concentrated on the hideous things that were attacking me

(Line Break)

 **Bleak Falls Barrow. Skyrim**

After making our way past some more deadly traps, fighting even more draugr, including one who fired some kind of freezing magic at us from, and skeletons who were armed with bows, we got to a place that was nice to actually safe be in.

Which was a chamber in which a waterfall tumbled down one wall and into a fast flowing shallow stream, and this in turn led into what seemed to be a natural cave. This place was illuminated by glowing fungi that grew in clumps on the walls.

I watched as Delphine cut away a few of the fungi, and stored them in her pack.

"Gothic if you're going to make a career out of adventuring you should get use to doing stuff like this" the Blade advised "Rare fungus like this is worth a lot to apothecaries and alchemists. But never take them all. Always leave a few behind, so that they can regrow, and so that you still have light to see".

After following this advice we moved onward into a cavern where another waterfall cascaded down through a shaft that must have reached to the surface, judging by beams of moonlight. Which made me wonder if it was possible avoid a lot of trouble just by finding holes in the ground and dropping into the subterranean lairs. Although I could see problems with this idea, and aside from having to find the right hole in the ground, you'd need be lowered down on a rope, and pulled up again because climbing a rope was hard enough without having to carry the treasure you were looking for.

We were now coming to end of this dungeon diving session I realised as we entered a corridor, which roofed with a low arching ceiling, and had carvings on its walls. They appeared to depict processions of robed priests, but time had worn away most of the rest and I couldn't figure out the point of the pictures.

The passage ended at a door. A strange, stone, door in the center of which was set a metal disc bearing a picture of a claw and three holes. The spacing of the holes matched the prongs of the Golden Claw. And above that disc there were three semi-circles in the stone all set with another disc, each bearing a symbol; a moth, an owl, and a bear.

"It's a combination lock," I said "You turn the rings so that they match the ones on the Golden Claw."

Delphine turned the rings until they showed bear, moth, and owl. Then she inserted the prongs of the claw into the holes and turned the handle to rotate the central disc.

There was a grinding noise and the door began to slide downward. Delphine removed the claw and handed it to me.

"You can take it back to Lucan," she said.

Clearly I'd proven myself to her, at least to a degree.

I packed the claw away, as the door slid down to a fully open position, and then followed Delphine into the cavern that lay beyond. Within the cave there was yet another waterfall which plunged down from an opening from the roof above, and moonlight shone through the caps in the ceiling. All in all rather pretty.

A stream ran from the bottom of the waterfall and disappeared into the rocky wall at the opposite side of the cavern. There was also a stone footbridge that crossed the stream and led to a large, flat, area where the stone floor had been shaped long ago by sentient beings.

Resting on the smoothed out area was a sarcophagus, hopefully not containing a Goa'uld System Lord, although thinking on a Goa'uld might be easier to handle that what I knew to be in that thing. Those parasites only pretended to have supernatural powers some of the undead things around here had real magic.

Beyond that was a smooth wall with an alcove set into it. I took a few steps in that direction and was able to make out that only one small part of the alcove glowed. And I could hear something coming from in that direction. It was chanting, and I felt drawn to it.

"If that's what I think it is" I heard Delphine say "You should go right up to it. Then we'll know if you are really Dragonborn".

When I got close to the wall the chanting grew louder and louder until it was almost painful to hear, and a faintly glowing word greatly brightened without seeming to illuminate anything but itself. Then a wavering stream of blue energy shoot forth from it and right into my eyes, blinding me.

A voice boomed in my head 'FUS!' and now I understood that 'fus' meant 'force', and that didn't mean I simply understood the meaning of the word, it meant that I understood what the word really meant. The knowledge had entered my mind much like the information from that spellbook I'd read had. It was like the knowledge was a living thing in my mind.

Then the glow went out, the light in the cavern returned to its previous state, and the chanting rose to one final climactic shout and then stopped. I was left with a blank wall, all the writing had gone. This Word Wall had been written for me, or someone like me, and now its purpose was done.

Which didn't make any sense to me. Why would someone put this here for a Dragonborn to learn from and make it so hard to get to? Things didn't add up, I was missing something.

"Did something happen?" Delphine asked me.

I nodded.

"There's no doubt about it" I said "I'm the Dragonborn".

Before Delphine could comment on this there was a loud cracking noise, the sarcophagus burst open and a figure rose up, tossing aside the sarcophagus lid, and climbed out. Thanks to the Word Wall I'd forgotten for a few moments about the boss battle.

It was another Draugr, but this was taller than the others, it was carrying a shield and wielding a sword that much like those carried by the other undead that guarded this place, only it glowled a faint blue. From this I got the impression that it was an enchanted weapon.

The creature's cold blue eyes studied us both for a moment before it turned to Delphine and attacked. I moved to aid her, and the Draugr turned its head toward me and shouted 'Fus!' A wave of shimmering force burst from its mouth, slammed into my body, and sent me flying back so that I hit the now dormant World Wall.

"Note to self, invest in a helmet" I muttered to myself while rubbing my head.

After very quickly picking myself up, and recovering my weapon, I charged and attempted to stab the undead thing. The Draugr Shouted again, this time at Delphine, and she was thrown backward a dozen feet and fell into the nearby stream.

Then it turned with surprising speed and met my blows, it blocked both the first and the second blow, before it aimed a slash at me with the faintly glowing weapon. I brought up my shield and blocked its powerful blows, while knowing that my arm was going to be sore later.

The creature Shouted again, and so did I, the power came out of me as I exhaled. 'FUS!'. The two shouts didn't cancel each other out. Both I and the undead creature were knocked to the ground. I lost my weapon and ended up losing my grip on the shield I'd gotten in Whiterun. As did the monster, it too was left without a sword or shield.

Slowly the undead thing raised its arms, and I suspected that it was going to blast cold at me, so I struck first with my own magic. Before now all I'd ever managed was a few sparks, but this time things were different, the sparks flew from my fingertips in a rush of power that felt so good.

"Power. Unlimited Power!" I heard myself yelling.

While the display of power was visually impressive it didn't do much to my foe, and I figured that its attack would do a lot more damage. However rather than blast me with cold it reached down to pick up its black sword and then slowly advanced towards me.

It seemed that I had done some damage to the monster as it moving slowly and didn't use magic on me, but I didn't have anything left to throw at it. Well there was a dagger in my boots, but since I didn't know how to throw knives and I couldn't bring myself to stand up, that wasn't much help.

Then without warning a katana blade burst out through the draugr's chest and sliced down through undead flesh. The eerie light in its eyes went out, it crumpled to the ground, and the faintly glowing black sword skittered away across the stone. Behind the fallen Draugr was Delphine, dripping wet, but unharmed.

"Are you hurt?" she asked, real concern in her voice.

No, mostly I was just tired. I must have put too much of myself into that spell, draining all my mana, or something like that.

"I'll live" I replied "Are you okay?".

She look a little worse for wear.

"Soaking wet, and a little bruised, but that's all," Delphine responded. "That was no common Draugr. It used the Thu'um, and I saw you do it too".

I didn't deny it.

"The Nord legends tell of heroes who could Shout with the voice of dragons and produce powerful magic" said the warrior woman "A few people have preserved the art. Ulfric Stormcloak can use the Voice, a little, although he's by no means a master. You learned a Shout from that wall, I don't know if that means you are the Dragonborn, but between that and these visions of yours, I'm starting to believe".

As the woman helped me up she asked me another question.

"Why were you yelling about power went casting lightening?" she wondered.

I struggled to answer that, trying to phase it in ways she would understand.

"Something I saw in a play" I told her "I don't know why I said it, heat of the moment I guess".

Delphine shrugged, and after that she got down to business.

"The Dragonstone should be around here somewhere" the Blade said, mostly to herself "Probably in the sarcophagus or in the chest"

It wasn't. The sarcophagus was empty. I'd forgotten exactly where the tablet was so we had to look for it. The chest, which wasn't locked, held a metal helmet made from the same black metal as the weapons of the zombies, a pile of coins, and that was it.

An extensive search of the cave turned up two other chests containing a few saleable items not of great value, but still worth taking. None of them fit the description of the Dragonstone.

Eventually Delphine turned her attention to the dead draugr itself and found that it had a pouch strapped to its side. Inside the pouch was only one thing; a slab of stone. One side of it was engraved with writing in the same script as that on the wall. The other side seemed to be a crude map.

"This is what Farengar and I are after," said Delphine. "I'll take a rubbing of it before you take it to Whiterun. I can work from that. This map marks Dragon burial sites, at least I hope".

She quickly made a copy.

"Oh and don't tell Farengar I was here" the Blade requested "He doesn't know who I really am and I want to keep it that way"

I nodded to confirm that I would do as she wished. Then Delphine started to divide what little loot there was, sharing out the old coins, while leaving some of the junk behind. I assumed that the old money still had value, gold was gold after all. Then she examined the sword of the boss that had nearly killed the both of us.

"A frost enchantment" she said "You should take it. Even if it's not much use against the dead it will help against other creatures and I prefer my katana".

Plus it was a cool looking magic sword.

"Thanks" I said.

"I think we're finished here," Delphine said. "The stairs over there imply that there's an exit that way. Let's find out".

Following her we quickly made our way out of Bleak Falls Barrow and headed back to Riverwood. Hopefully I would never have to return to this awful place.

While leaving I remembered that some of these barrows had secret exists that were near the entrances. Perhaps with some help and a few crowbars I could bypass a lot of dungeon diving. I might have to invent the crowbar, and thinking on that amused me. My contribution to civilization in this world would be the crowbar, a tool often used for vandalism.


	4. Chapter 4

**Dragonborn Gothic 1 - World-Eater**

 **Part 4**

 **Riverwood. Skyrim.**

Since Delphine had separated from me not long after we exited Bleak Falls Barrow, and because I was so tired, I was glad that the trip back to Riverwood was totally uneventful. Although the trip did back take a while because I simply wasn't willing to move my feet quickly.

It was nearing sunset by the time I returned to the village, I was sore and hungry but I was also feeling a strange sense of satisfaction. I had completed the quest, I had the quest item, some loot, and I'd become stronger, so all in all I'd had a good time. I would have gone with great time, only the bandits, the undead and the huge scary spiders had sucked some of the fun out of the day.

While I wanted to head for the inn right away so I could take off my armour, get something to eat and crawl into a reasonable clean bed. I decided that I would return the claw first as I knew it would mean a lot to owner of the trade store, and the reward I could use to buy myself a decent meal without draining what little funds I had right now. Then tomorrow I could sell my loot.

"You're back!" a voice called out.

Lucan sounded surprised as I walked into his shop.

"Don't sound so shocked or I might start thinking you weren't expecting me to come return".

After saying that I put the claw on the counter before him.

"The claw! I can't thank you enough for bringing it back to us," he said as he grinned at me happily.

"You're welcome" I said.

Soon the item was back in its proper place.

"Find anything else while you were up there?" the businessman asked of me.

I felt certain that his intention was buy a few artefacts from me as cheaply as possible so that he could re-sell them for a profit to someone who passed through and wouldn't know where they were form. Not that this was a bad thing, the man had to make a living.

"Not much up there but dusty bones and really old weapons," I said with shrugged, in an attempt to seem causal about the whole thing "But I did find a few things that I might want to sell. I'll pop by tomorrow and let you take a look".

The store owner seemed pleased by this, on top of also being happy about getting his claw back.

"I'm sure that we can make a good deal" the man said as he handed me a coin purse that felt delightfully heavy. "Here's the payment for the claw. Oh, and Camilla told me that she wanted to repay you for helping us, too. She's been cooking something up".

Well I wouldn't pass up on dinner, a home cooked meal would at least save me a few coins.

"How kind of her," I said "And where might she be?".

"She's upstairs," the merchant replied a motioned to the stairs and began walking to the door. "Tell her to lock up once you leave".

Before I could ask where he was going he was gone, so I made my way up the stairs to find Camilla sitting at a table as she worked on her needlecraft. Which I'd seen her doing before, and since her brother ran the store I figured that maybe she didn't have much else to do.

She smiled when she saw that it was me who had come up the stairs, but that quickly turned into a frown when she looked up and down, seeing the state of me. I wasn't just dirty, I had bruises and cuts as well. Plus my hair had to be all messy.

"You're hurt," she stated, before getting up and walking over so that she could inspect the damage "Here, let me take a look at you".

It was at this point that I realised that she was dressed in a simple slip-on nightgown, and unless it was a trick of the nearby candlelight, she had on nothing else.

"Don't worry" I said "I'll heal".

She studied me for a moment before nodding and beckoning me to follow her. I did and she led me to stand with her by the bed before spinning around and pressing another kiss to my lips. Because of the height I had on her she was forced to stand on her toes and pull me down ever so slightly. I was a little taller than most of the people around here, with a few exceptions.

I pulled back after a moment and gave her a somewhat sheepish smile. This was going a bit too quickly for me. I'd thought we were having dinner, and that the kissing, if there was any would follow the meal, seemed like this woman wanted to skip ahead. Mind you I had helped her quite a bit, and from what I remembered about the romance of this game the women in Skyrim were impressed by deeds not romantic gestures.

Her lips were incredibly soft I noted as we started kissing some more, at least in comparison to my own, and once the surprise wore off I found that she'd started to undo the straps of my armour without become aware of what she doing, at least not at first. I didn't fail to notice for too long as iron armour hitting the floor makes quiet a noise.

My hands began exploring her barely-clothed body, and when I squeezed her bum she pulled back once again, though this time I found my mouth chasing hers. Then I thought she might try to stop me from having more fun, but as it turned out she was just having some trouble getting parts of my armour off.

I helped her, as I did something occurred to me that could be way more of a dampener on the evening than the hard to take off clothes.

"What's to stop your brother from suddenly showing up and killing me in a fit of over-protective rage?" I asked.

Since I had two sisters I would totally understand her brother going mental on me if he saw this. Although him murdering me seemed unlikely, it was far more likely that I would simply be barred from this place, and that would be a downer as I did a lot of business here, or at least planned to.

"He'll be gone for the night. He does that sometimes," she explained as she finally got the last of the straps and buckles undone "He thinks that I do know that he sneaks off to see that widow".

The real Riverwood was only a village, but it was still larger than the game version so naturally there were homes filled with people I knew nothing about.

"Finally!" she said

Well someone was eager, very eager. Not that this was so odd as it might seem to be I had to be the most interesting and sexy man she'd ever met. I was after all the Dragonborn, or at least I strongly believed this to be the case, plus I real life adventurer. So it made sense to me that she wanted to get my kit off.

"Lift up your arms," I commanded in what I thought to be a firm, yet gentle tone.

She did as I instructed, though I also noticed a fierce blush lighting up her cheeks and she suddenly couldn't look me in the face anymore. I enjoyed this, having this woman obey me. I barely knew her, but it was clear that she couldn't resist me.

I pulled the nightgown off over her head, dropping it to the ground next to my armour and took in the sight of her naked body. She wasn't ugly by any measure, but neither was she that attractive, she was however warm and soft, which I liked.

"Having second thoughts?" she asked quietly,

She was trying to sound as if she was joking, but ultimately coming across as insecure. I could tell she was trying very hard not to cover herself with her hands.

"No," I answered honestly.

My penis would not allow that. I was going to bone this woman that I barely knew. Which was odd for me, but compared the rest of strangeness in my life I didn't give my changing attitude towards sex much in the way of thought.

With the awkwardness at least temporarily forgotten, she pulled me towards her and kissed me again. As my hands got moving I noticed how her skin felt warm, to the touch so soft and smooth when compared to my own.

She seemed mostly interested in just one part of my body, and my own hands soon found their way to her breasts. They felt absolutely amazing in my palms as I kneaded and squeezed them. A quiet moan reached my hearing, followed by a slightly louder one when my fingers found her nipples. Since I wanted to her that sound some more I soon focused all of my attention on her hardened nipples and the dark areola surrounding them.

Before I knew it my lips and tongue were attacking her very sensitive nipples. The taste of her skin was pleasant enough, she'd clearly bathed recently. Perhaps she'd done so expecting me to be here this very evening. If so I was grateful for the effort she'd gone to, and I wishing that I'd had the chance to take a bath. Not that my new friend seemed to mind the state I was in. Maybe she liked rough and rugged looking men.

Loud moans soon filled the air, and her hands very suddenly left my erection alone and she was soon running her fingers through the tangled mess that was my hair. She held me tightly to her chest as my mouth did its work, and I let one of my hands moved down to her cunt. Which I started playing with.

"No, don't stop, please," she begged.

I did stop and I pushed her onto the bed, but not in a very forceful way, and I looked down at her naked form. The foreplay was done with, I was going in for the main event. I slowly guided myself into her, and loud moans came pouring out her mouth as I pushed deeper and deeper into her pussy.

Before long I pulled out until I was barely inside her, then pushed back in in a slow, steady motion. I kept my movement slow and steady to begin with, intending to speed up once she'd gotten use to my cock being inside her. Which didn't take long.

"Faster," she encouraged.

I happily obliged, speeding up my thrusts time. She continued urging me to move faster and harder until I was all but pounding into her and soon enough she had stopped being able to speak in any coherent way, words were replaced with moaning and grunts of pleasure.

Seconds bled into minutes, which became time which was impossible to track as I fucked her in a way that felt very animal. She clawed at my back, adding to the wounds I already had, and sooner that I was she would have liked I let out a noise that sounded almost like a growl as I filled up her cunt my cum.

I pulled out, no doubt making a mess of her bed as I did, and rolled to fall to the covers next to her. Neither of us said a word for a while, as breathing became very important to us. Despite having done the work, and the long day I'd had, I recovered first, and I propped myself up on an elbow so that I could look at Camilla.

"When are you leaving?" she asked.

I gave it some thought.

"Probably within the next couple of days" I said.

I had no when the dragon I was suppose to slay would attack that watchtower, it happens as soon as the dragonstone was delivered to the court wizard when playing the game. However this was not a game, and I'd gone off script by teaming up with Delphine before you make contact with her in the game, so now events might not happen the way there were suppose to. I might have thrown things totally of whack, or if the gods of this world, the Divines were involved, they might have a hand in things and make sure they happened a certain way.

"Will you be coming back?" she asked.

Of course she would want that.

"Oh, I'm sure someday I'll come back and visit," I said with a smile "It isn't often I find a woman who's actually willing to put up with me".

That was when I noticed something. A powerful smell.

"I really hope that isn't me stinking up the place" I said.

It was not.

"My stew!" Camilla yelled out.

Without bothering to dress she got out of bed and made her way over the fireplace. I watched her move about while nude, and while that was a pleasant sight I really hoped that the stew wasn't ruined as now I was even more hungry than ever.

(Line Break)

 **Riverwood. Skyrim.**

It wasn't long after dinner that we started going at it again, and I was amazed that I was still awake nevermind able to perform. I knew that I would pay for this later, but for now I simply didn't care.

Without much effort I pulled down the nightgown she'd put back on and soon her nails scraped down my chest and stomach, and before long a quiet moan escaped my throat as one of her hands tightly gripped my hard length. She had a good grip, it was firm, but it didn't hurt. Even through the jeans, which I'd put back on, she could feel how aroused I had quickly become.

I let one my own hands slip down her body so that I could finger into her already wet folds. I was rewarded with a loud moan in my ear and a hard squeeze of my shaft. She was very sensitive in all the right places, and liked to be touched.

Between her hand stroking my hard cock, which she had freed from my trousers, and my fingers which were working inside her, it was more or less a toss-up for who would last longer. I wanted to cum inside her, but she seemed content to do this way.

Taking control of the situation I spun her around so that she had to steady herself on the nearby wall. While she did that I reached around to her front and carefully pushed a finger back into her slick heat while my other hand rather roughly grasped her breasts. She let out a quick, and not that loud, scream of pleasure, more of yelp than anything else.

Before long a second finger slipped into her, and I judged that she was more than ready for another good pounding. Her hand guided me to her entrance, which signalled her agreement, and I pushed my throbbing member into her while I kissed her neck in a way that should arouse her more.

She let out a harsh moans and then curses of some kind escaped her mouth between her gasps and moans. I didn't know if she was mad at me or if she was a naughty girl with a foul mouth, but she made no move to stop me from fucking her so I kept going.

My hands latched onto her waist in a hard grip as part of a desperate attempt to push myself harder and deeper into the warm place my cock loved so much. It began to take every ounce of self-control I could muster to stop myself from taking things to far and actually hurting her.

Her moans and cries grew steadily louder, quickly drowning out any sound I was making. I focused on pleasing myself with her body without slamming her into the wall, which was tricky, and the noises she was making didn't help at all.

Again I was sure that it was sooner than she would have liked, but I'd had a very long day and my body was telling me I needed to sleep so I decided to finish up and once again fill her cunt with my seed. I should have worried about birth control, however I no longer had the energy to care about such things.

I drew myself out from her well used fuchhole and let myself drop into a nearby chair. She turned around, looked at me and smiled wearily, her body was covered sheen of sweat and her chest heaving with each gasp of breath she drew. My recovery wasn't going to come faster than hers this time.

"That was certainly more...energetic than last time," she said.

I watched her touch a tentative hand to her crotch and wince slightly and caught a glimpse of the mixed fluids coating her fingers.

"Well I don't think I've ever been fucked like that before" she said.

So I'd leave any impression if nothing else.

(Line Break)

 **Riverwood. Skyrim.**

Since I was now flush with cash, having sold off my loot, and been richly rewarded for recovering the golden claw I'd decided to upgrade my armour from iron to steel armour. Which the local blacksmith needed some time to sort out a suit of armour as while they had pouches of holding the armour here didn't magically resize to fit the wearer. So he'd taken my measurements and was currently working on alterations to the armour he'd made for someone who'd never turned up to claim the suit.

This left me with some free time and Camilla had asked me to chop some firewood for her. Which was the least I could do have after the night we'd had. Plus I knew that I would need to stay in top shape in order to survive in this world and chopping firewood was good exercise.

"You!" a somewhat familiar voice shouted out from behind me

I turned to see Faendal, the elf archer, and the look he gave me I would have probably found intimidating if I hadn't just yesterday taken on a powerful undead creature, albeit with help, compared to that an annoyed person who wasn't even carrying a weapon, wasn't much of a threat.

"Me," I answered back.

I had already guessed what this was about, and I would let the guy vent. He wouldn't challenge me to a fight not when he was unarmed and I had an axe, not unless he wanted to die.

"You told Camilla the letter was fake!" he shouted, as if that was some sort of crime "Now she doesn't even want to talk to me".

I couldn't help smiling.

"Sven gave me a fake letter to deliver and say was from you, and I told her about that one, too," I informed the elf "You should have just been honest with her".

"And what gave you the right to interfere?" he demanded to know.

Well nothing really. This wasn't my world.

"I just did what any decent person would have done" I said.

For a moment I thought he actually might try and hit me. It would have been a foolish move, since I could kill him with the axe I still had in my hands, or at least badly wound him. Instead, he just took a deep breath as he foughr to calm himself.

"You haven't heard the last of this," he muttered in a tone that was likely supposed to be threatening.

He started walking away.

"True, I still have to wait for Sven to come and bitch at me about this" I grumbled.

Of course I all but ran into him as he came out of the Riverwood Trader. He was looking a little upset, and this time I had an armful of firewood so I would be less able to defend myself should this come to blows.

"You!" he shouted.

"Me!" I yelled back.

That actually stopped him in his tracks, but not for long.

"You told her about the letter!" he accused.

He made it sound as if I was the bad guy in this.

"You know this wouldn't have happened if either of you had decided to just man up and actually talk to the woman about how you feel" I said "But instead of doing the right thing you decided to try tricking her. What would you have done if she'd found out later?".

Stuff like this often came out into the open, and normally at the worst possible time.

"I won't let you make a fool out of me" he said.

While he spoke I saw his hands clenched into fists.

"How about we settle this like men" he said.

Why was violence always the solution to problems around here?

"You mean like this" I said.

I dropped the firewood on to his feet, which distracted him long enough so that he had no chance of blocking the punch that knocked him to the ground. Now I stood over him, ready to continue if he made it seem like I should. However he decided to sulk away, and leave me to pick up my firewood, which was good because the locals were rather good at punching each other in the face were as I was really not up for that.

"Hello, my friend!" Lucan called out as I walked in "What can I do for you today?".

As I deposited the firewood on the pile, I wondered why he was acting as if this was the first time he'd seen me since last night. Perhaps he just wanted to pretend that I hadn't spent the night here, if so I was happy to go along with that.

"Actually, I was wondering if you had any spellbooks" I said

He turned around and knelt down to search through a small bookshelf.

"I might have something" he told me "but if you're really interested in learning magic, you should probably go to the College of Winterhold".

Yeah it would be awhile before I got around to going there. Since I already knew where the Elder Scroll was there was no need for me to seek entry into that place.

"I have a couple spellbooks. Hopefully they'll be of help to you" he said.

One was for healing, the other was for the flames spell. Both would be useful.

"How much will these cost?" I asked the dreaded question.

Lucan rubbed his chin.

"You know I've had these for years" he said "I don't think anyone else will ever by them so just give me what you can spare".

I gave him what I could.

"Thank you," I said.

I suspected that until now he'd been ripping me off and felt bad about it. Or maybe he'd already made a decent profit on the stuff I'd brought back with me from the Barrow.

Before I could sit down and start reading the books Camilla came down the stairs, and gave me sly smile when she saw me.

"Brother, isn't almost time you were leaving?" she asked.

He looked out a window, his eyebrows shooting up when he realised that it was already getting dark. This day had just flown by, although it my case that was because I'd slept through most of it.

"How time flies," he said as he headed for the door "Have a nice night".

"He seemed to be in a bit of a rush," I said offhandedly.

Hopefully it wasn't because he wanted to get away from me.

"Yes, he did," she agreed "I have to wonder if I'll have a sister-in-law soon".

That better not be a hint about marriage because there was no chance of that happening. I wasn't going to get married to a woman I'd met only days ago, and it quite possible that I'd be dead soon.

"I have something for you upstairs" I was told.

Before long I headed up to see what it was.

(Line Break)

 **Riverwood. Skyrim.**

My surprise turned out to be a hot bath, which was most welcome as I'd not bathed for days, and I knew now that she'd sent me off to get firewood so that she could prepare a bath, which was a big chore when you didn't have running water, and without me knowing what she was up.

Another surprise was when she climbed into the bathtub with me, and began playing with my cock. She did that a lot I had noticed, not that I would complained, and even while she cleaned other parts of my body she would keep rubbing me.

"This is nice," I said, leaning back.

The water sloshed about as she as she tried to reposition herself, which wasn't easy as while the tub was long it was also narrow, but she managed to get herself on to lap, her cunt was now less than an inch from my manhood, and yet it was not close enough.

At least I could easily play with her breasts, and I fondled them much more gently than I had last time as they were tender, yet she didn't urge me to be careful, and I had to admire what a tough lady she was, and I also had to tell myself that was clearly trying to rope me into staying here.

If it weren't for the whole Dragonborn thing I might have decided to stick around for a while, after all there were worse places to be. Alas someone had to deal with the whole End of the World issue, and ever since I'd found the Word Wall it seemed clear that I was the chosen one.

After leaning forward, I captured one of her nipples in his my, and I began to kiss it, before suckling on it. When I switched over to the other, I got to listen to her moan, which was something she did a lot when I was around, and she began to rub my cock at a quicker pace.

"Please, Gothic" she whispered, her voice soft, yet full of lust. "Please, I want you in me".

I managed to drag my mouth away from her breasts, and while I was normally an ass guy, I had become oddly attached this woman's breasts, but I forced myself to ignore them. I lifted her so that tip of my dick was pressed against her.

Now it was time for the fucking so I pulled her down onto me until I was completely inside her, her soft inner folds squeezing me gently as her womanhood welcomed my entry. I then thrusted up into her even as she rolled her hips forward and back, trying to time her movements with my thrusts. Her breasts jiggled a little as they moved, and the water in the tub sloshed back and forth, spilling onto the floor.

Camilla bit the corner of her lower lip in an effort to keep silent, but every now and then her moans made it through, which only encouraged me to move faster and harder. However there was a limit to what I could do so for a change the local woman ended up doing most of the work.

She pulled me against her, doing her best to shove my face into her breasts, as she wrapped her arms around me. She pressed her face into my shoulder, whimpering as her hips moved as fast as they could. She clearly didn't care how much water ended up out of the tub and on the floor.

Even after I'd shot my baby batter deep inside her she kept going, making sure that she was satisfied. Not that she been complaining before.

"I needed that," she murmured as let go of me.

"I'm leaving tomorrow," I suddenly blurted out.

She was silent for a moment before pressing herself more tightly to me once again

"Then I'd really like you to shut up and let me enjoy this" she said.

I couldn't help laughing upon hearing that.

(Line Break)

 **Riverwood. Skyrim**

This suit of armour had cost me a lot of gold, but it would be worth as it was fine set of steel, it would protect me better than the old iron stuff I'd been wearing before, and while there were no mirrors for me admire myself in, I could look at my reflection in the stream, and I figured that I looked somewhat badass.

I wasn't so sure about the helmet, but I wasn't going to go without one, I'd learned not to the hard way, and the horned one would looked more silly on me of that I felt sure.

Once I was done admiring myself I made sure once again that all my equipment was on my person, and that all the pieces of armour were in the right place, that was a good start. I'd really feel foolish if later I found out that something wasn't on right.

My new shield, also of better quality than what I used before, I had a firm grip on, and while it had seen better days it was a solid thing, and I was sure it would take many blows before it had be retired from service.

As for my enchanted sword, it was at my waist, ready to be drawn when required. I didn't know long enchantments lasted on weapons when not playing the game, however even if the magic got used up it was still a fine blade, and would serve me well.

I had refilled my quiver as well, and had my bow restrung, it had snapped during my fight with the boss in Bleak Falls Barrow, not that I'd noticed. I hoped to be able to keep using the bow, as it would be better for me to kill things from a distance rather than to let them get within arms reach.

My pouch of holding, which I had triple checked before leaving the Riverwood store, contained my healing potions, my spell books, which I would soon get around to reading, and enough food to last the rest of the day. I did have some coins left, however I was going to need that reward from the Jarl soon, or to find somehow who would exchange the old coins I'd gotten from the Barrow. No one around here would accept them despite them being gold because they didn't have enough silver to make change if I brought anything.

With no further reason to delay and much to do ahead of me I headed along the road to Whiterun, knowing that it would take me awhile to get there. Which would at least give me a chance to get used to my new armour, and at least it wasn't too heavy.


	5. Chapter 5

**Dragonborn Gothic 1 - World-Eater**

 **Part 5**

 **Whiterun Skyrim.**

"Ah! The Dragonstone. You found it" said the court wizard.

He sounded positively delighted about this. You'd think I'd just told him that I'd found a winning lottery ticket that he had somehow lost.

"You are certainly cut from a different cloth than the usual brutes the Jarl sends my way" he then added.

While I was trying to work out if I'd been insulted or not, he moved with surprising quickness and grabbed the stone from my hand. It seemed clear to me that he was very eager to get on with his work.

"You'll have to speak to the Jarl or the steward about your reward" I was then told "I'm sure one of them will have your payment".

With that he waved me off and set the stone down on the table. I waited a for a few moments, but the Drow lady who served the Jarl didn't come running in while shouting so I decided to head to the tavern for a pint of mead while waiting for the horror of a dragon attack to begin.

I got all the way to the door, then I looked around just in case something was happening, and I was about to leave when it burst open and the Dark Elf woman barged into the great hall. I had feeling that I knew what had lit a fire under her. Quite possibly in a very literal sense given the presence of dragons in this world.

"Farengar!" a voice called out.

Irileth stopped in her tracks when she saw me.

"A dragon has been sighted nearby" she told me "You'd better come with me".

She pulled me by the arm, clearly intent that I go with her.

"Well, it certainly didn't waste any time showing up, now did it?" I said.

For some reason this amused me. I didn't know why as this was a very dire situation.

"I'd take this a bit more seriously, if I were you," Irileth said to me in a harsh tone. "If the dragon attacks Whiterun, I don't know if we'll be able to defend ourselves against it".

We headed up to the second floor to find that a guard was reporting to the Jarl. Aside from the short delay with the Drow lady everything seemed to be progressing as it did in the game, which was good I guessed. At least it meant that I understood what was going on around here.

"It was fast. Faster than anything I've ever seen. I ran here as fast as I could. I thought it would come after me for sure" the guard was saying.

At this point my mind, odd thing that it was, decided to remember that the Jar's name was Balgruuf, which wasn't very helpful right now.

"Did it attack the watchtower?" Balgruuf asked.

"No. It was just...circling and watching" the guard replied.

The Jarl planted a reassuring hand on the guard's shoulder.

"You've done a good job" Balgruuf praised the man "See to it that you get some hot food and rest"

With a bow of his head the guard left. I figured he was go drown himself in whatever rotgut they had down in the barracks.

"What would you have me do, my lord?" Irileth asked.

She seemed eager for action. I was less eager as I didn't want to die. Yet really what choice did I have as if I didn't go and help the dragon I'd never get to eat its soul and the Greybeards wouldn't summon me. I might be able to get them to train me without eating the soul, but I wasn't going to go and climb a mountain on a maybe. I'd feel really stupid if I got all the way to the top and they didn't even open the doors.

"Take a small detachment of men and see what's going on at the western watchtower," Balgruuf ordered.

He then turned to me, and I could tell by his grim expression that he knew just how bad this could be.

"Go with her. You have more experience dealing with dragons than anyone else here" he said.

That was technically true. Of course my experience with those flying reptiles amounted to me running away from the only one I'd ever seen.

"I can run away from them pretty well. Other than that I don't know how much good I'll be" I admitted.

Maybe someone else would kill it and I could then swallow its soul.

"I should go with them," Farengar said, having followed us without me seeing him. "I would very much like to see this dragon".

Jarl Balgruuf shook his head.

"No, you will stay here. I'll not risk both your lives" he stated.

The wizard looked disappointed but nonetheless nodded his head in response, and I was also sad as having someone along who could throw fireballs about could have been rather handy. Shame about that.

"Get to the watchtower quickly, Irileth" the noble man ordered "There's no telling what damage that dragon can do if we don't stop it quickly".

I had an idea about to get some more help. I did happen to know some werewolves who were pretty decent fighters. Hopefully I had enough money to hire them.

(Line Break)

 **Wilderness. Skyrim.**

"There's the watchtower!" one of the soldiers ahead the main group, called out.

The tower looked like it had been at least partly demolished, and the guards here hadn't fared any better than the ones in Helgan. A few corpses dotted the field along with broken stones and something was on fire.

The sight made me glad that I'd stopped by the mead hall of the Companions to ask for some help. Alas only Aela had been available, but she was a decent archer, and we would need all the fighters we could get our hands on. A whole army would have been nice, but since I didn't think I had enough to pay the one warrior for hire I'd been able to find I doubted that I could have gotten more people to come along.

Aela being here should at some point give me the chance to ask why she was wearing my leather jacket. She could have brought it because she thought it would look on her, which it did, and since she was a werewolf perhaps she smelled my scent on it, but that didn't explain her interest in me.

I was starting to wonder if the Companion werewolves could sense the dragon part of me and were responding to that. That was interesting if so, but it was something I'd have to think about in detail later on. Assuming I had a later on. I might be about to die, and I was oddly calm about that.

"So we're supposed to fight something which can do that," one of the guards said as he gestured at the devastation, "With what? Swords and arrows?".

An RPG launcher would be good right about now, or better yet a tank, but if I was going to wish for anything and have it appear I'd go with a nice helicopter gunship.

"Quit complaining," the Dunmer ordered "We have a job to do. Now I want you to fan out and look for any survivors. I want to know what happened here".

Despite earlier grumbling they instantly did as she ordered, rushing out to look over the area, clearly they respected her greatly, or feared her more than a dragon, either way I figured that it was a very wise idea to stay on the Drow's good side.

I made my way up to the tower itself. The stairway was littered with rubble and I was super weary of any movement. My hand flew to the hilt of the enchanted sword at my waist as a man in Whiterun guard's armour popped out of the doorway when I approached it.

"Who are you?" he asked in a panicked voice.

That seemed like an odd question given what had just happened around here, so I assumed that man was in some sort of shock, that would account for him asking me for my identity when we should enquiring if it was safe to come out of his hiding place.

"There's someone alive here!" Aela called out.

I assumed the smoke had prevented her werewolf senses from detecting his guy sooner as she actually sounded surprised to see someone alive here.

"Quiet, you fool! The beast will hear you," the guard whispered harshly.

As in reply a roar was heard and I felt the dragon coming, a little too late sure, but I felt it, and I wondered if it could feel me, that might explain why it returned as I arrived here, and perhaps it had even attacked the watchtower in order to draw out the dragonborn, but I wasn't sure if that made any sense, and right now I didn't much in the way of time to think about it.

The dragon swooped low and let loose a torrent of fire across the field, burning one of the guards to ash where he stood, an act that involved a large amount of screaming. Which really should have scared me shitless, but I just reached for my bow, fight again defeating flight.

Before long the soldiers returned the favour with arrows. I was impressed with how many projectiles so few people could let loose. When Aela and I joined in with some well aimed shots it became only a matter of time before we hit some part of the dragon that wasn't protected by scales.

Unfortunately when they did happen the result was to send the dragon into a rage. The dragon landed before another of the guards. He barely had time to scream before he was snapped up in the beasts mouth and shaken about like a dog playing a rag doll.

Knowing that I had to act now, before the creature once more took to the air, I leapt down from the steps I'd been standing on, and took off at a sprint towards the big scary thing as it released the now dead man and let him soar through the air until he hit what remained of the watchtower. A feat which showed just how strong these creature in fact were.

I drew my blade as I ran. I seemed to be the only one willing to attack it up close, though I couldn't blame the others for wanting to stay out of reach and use their bows. Only the Drow lady had the magical prowess required cast spells strong enough to harm, or least distract, the dragon.

Even though most of the arrows only bounced off its hard scales, they still kept annoyed to the point that it couldn't seem to decide who to go after.

While it was distracted I circled around to its side, hoping to get around behind the monster in order to attack from the side and evade its clearly deadly jaws. It anticipated this and blew forth another gust of flame that forced me to keep running rather than to attack.

The dragon spread its wings in an obvious attempt to take to the air and resume reeking havoc up where I couldn't reach it. With that in mind I ran under its wing and stabbed my sword upwards, piercing the much more delicate skin. I kept running forward so as to carve a large slice through the skin and ruin any ability the beast had to fly.

In response its tail swiped and sent me flying. My helmet flew off from the impact and I landed on the ground with a tumble. My sword flew somewhere from my grasp, but that not exactly my biggest concern right now.

I sat up in a daze. My head was sore and my left shoulder hurt, but I was sure that it wasn't broken or even dislocated, which had to be thanks to my new armour. All things considered, I had gotten pretty lucky.

Alas other people were not sharing my good fortune, I looked back up at the dragon in time to see it tear into the guard who had survived the first attack with its jaws, by the looks of things he'd been trying to bash the creature's still intact wing with a warhammer.

Within a few moments I had retrieved my sword and was now heading back towards the dragon. It turned its gaping maw towards me and I heard it Shout.

 _"Yol!"_

The word was followed by another blast of flame. I stopped and dropped to the ground, reacting rather than thinking about what I was doing, and that was what saved my life. If I'd remained standing I would have been burned to a crisp, as it was I felt pretty sure that I lost some hair, the smell was horrible.

Once I got back up I ran forward and jammed my sword into the creature's eye, or at least that was what I attempted to. I actually ended up with the enchanted blade going into a hole that could be the creature's ear. Which for the dragon was not a pleasant experience of that I was sure.

In the end it wasn't actually me who slayed the beast. It was Aela that did the deed. She managed to drive her blade into the beast's eye, no doubt having had the same idea as me, and then repeated the feat a few times until the dragon dropped dead. Which was really a little anticlimactic, or at least it felt that way.

"That went better than I thought it would," I commented.

Irileth and the two remaining soldiers made their way over to me.

"We lost three good men to the beast, but that's better than losing all of Whiterun" said the Drow lady "I'm surprised it was able to destroy Helgen so easily".

"It didn't" I said.

She looked surprised upon hearing my words.

"That wasn't the dragon that attacked Helgen. It's smaller and the wrong colour" I explained.

No one found this to be welcome news.

"It looks like we have a lot more than just one dragon to deal with" the Dark Elf stated.

A sound not unlike that of a fire burning caused us to become distracted from our conversation. I turned around to see what looked for all the world like the dragon's flesh burning away. The glowing embers of the dragon's skin and flesh turned into a swirling vortex of energy. I was mesmerized by it until it suddenly flew forth and passed into me. It felt like the wind was knocked from my body. I dropped to my knees and clenched my eyes shut as a sort of power spread through my body, racing through my veins and making me feel very tingly.

 _"Fus!"_

The Shout had been enough to make someone stagger back before, now I was sure that it was a more powerful Shout. It had broken apart the dragon's skeleton to some extent.

"He's the Dragonborn! He must be," one of the guards said excitedly.

"Don't be foolish. The Dragonborn is only a legend," the other berated him.

"So are dragons," the first retorted.

"What's a Dragonborn?" a guard asked.

"Stories tell of a man born with the body of a mortal, but the soul of a dragon," the first guard explained. "The last true Dragonborn was Tiber Septim".

I was feeling really giddy right now. There was new power coursing through me that made me stronger, and more alive. A guy could get used to feeling this way.

(Line Break)

 **Whiterun. Skyrim.**

"You've returned!" the leader of the city said.

The Jarl stood up from his throne when we arrived. I figured that he was surprised to see us alive. Not that we'd all come back alive. A few of the guards were dead, although it was amazing that any of us had survived. If that dragon hadn't landed we wouldn't have won, and even then it had been a close thing.

"What happened at the watchtower?" we were asked "Was the dragon there?".

Irileth motioned for me to explain and I held back the urge to glare at her. I didn't really want to be the centre of attention. Right now I wanted to find something to eat as slaying dragons really makes you hungry.

"The watchtower was destroyed, all the men there are dead, and three of your men died in the battle" I reported "but somehow we killed the dragon".

I had no idea how we'd gotten so lucky, but luck it was.

"Did anything else happen at the watchtower?" he asked.

I wasn't sure how to tell anyone that I was the dragonborn and the Dark Elf ended up speaking for me.

"After the dragon was slain, this Imperial absorbed some kind of power from it" the Drow lady told her superior "and let loose a Shout of great power".

It hadn't been that powerful.

"A Shout?" he lord asked.

Was it just me or did the Jarl seemed less surprised than he should have been. Then again he had heard the Greybeards just like I had, and they had called for me while I'd been heading back to the city, so it wouldn't have been hard for the Jarl to come to the conclusion that the Dragonborn had appeared and that it had to something to do with the dragon which had attacked the Watchtower.

"Turns out that I might be the Dragonborn" I said "The dragon died, it sort of burned up and some kind of energy rushed into me".

Up until then I hadn't been one hundred percent sure that I was the chosen one, now there was no room for doubt.

"The Greybeards were calling you" the Jarl said as he sat back down on his throne "They are masters of the Voice who live in seclusion high on the slopes of the Throat of the World. The Dragonborn is said to be gifted in the Way of the Voice, able to focus his energy into a Thu'um, or Shout. If you really are the Dragonborn it is likely that they can teach you to use your gift".

This was when a powerful warrior looking type decided to speak.

"That was the Shout of the Greybeards, summoning you to High Hrothgar" he told me "It hasn't happened in centuries, at least. Not since Tiber Septim himself was summoned".

There was some debate about this between the steward and the warrior guy, but I ignored that and tried to decide on the best way to climb that mountain. It wouldn't be as simply as in the game, there might actually be seven thousands steps, and that could days to climb depending on the state of the mountain. Plus I would need to take into account the dangers. I shouldn't go alone.

"Despite your obvious apprehension, being summoned by the Greybeards is a tremendous honour. You should go to High Hrothgar as soon as possible," the Jarl was now saying.

Clearly he'd been able sense my worries. Of course I'd known that might have to climb that mountain. Now it just seemed more real.

"In the meantime, I wish to name you Thane of Whiterun in recognition of your services to our city" the Jarl told me" Do you accept?"

Rather than accept right away I enquired as to what obtaining the rank would mean for me. It didn't change much in the game, but this wasn't a game, and I didn't think I'd have time for courtly duties what the End of Days going on.

"Simply put, you would be a member of my court" it was explained "You'd be given a housecarl to serve under you. It is an honoured position not awarded to many people".

Naturally I took the title. If I survived the whole Dragonborn thing I'd need to think about my future and becoming a minor noble could help with that.

"Proventus, prepare for the ceremony tonight," the Jarl said, now addressing his minions "Irileth, I want you to find our friend here a suitable housecarl. I think Lydia is available".

"Yes, my lord" they both replied.

The man nodded curtly while the Dunmer bowed. Each was gone in a matter of moments, leaving me alone before the Jarl. The man who had been standing on my other side had vanished sometime during the conversation before without me noticing. He was stealthy for such a big fella.

"The ceremony to make it proper will be held in a couple hours" the Jarl let me know Until then, find something to eat. Fighting that dragon must have worked up quite an appetite. Oh, and I haven't forgotten about you bringing us the Dragonstone. I'll arrange proper payment soon".

With that I figured that it was time to go to the inn and get that drink I'd wanted.

(Line Break)

 **Whiterun. Skyrim.**

"Come on in!" a middle-aged woman called out from behind a counter inside as I opened the door. "Take a seat and get the cold out. I just stoked the fire".

I closed the door behind me. It was colder than it had been last time. Perhaps the Starks were right, and winter was coming.

The woman who must be the innkeeper smiled at me as I made my way over to the counter and sat down on a stool.

"I'm Hulda, and this is my inn," she said, introducing herself. "Usually we're a bit more lively than this, but with all the going on up at Dragonsreach everyone is busy".

The place was nearly empty, with only a Redguard who looked to be busy cleaning up and a pair of lighter skinned humans at a table in a corner. The male of the two looked to be a Nord, judging by his general build and blond hair, while the narrow features of the woman suggested she was an Imperial. Although I had no idea if I was judging correctly, and I didn't think on it for long as race had never been much of an issue for me.

Upon closer inspection, it seemed that the woman cared little for the man's company, if her scowl was any indication. Unwanted advances perhaps?

As for why this place was nearly empty I imagined that they were sorting out stuff for the ceremony that should take place later. I would be knighted or something like that, and there was a dead dragon to celebrate as well. I could understand why'd they would party over such a thing as it meant that the dragons could be defeated, and that not all hope was lost.

"Would you like something to eat or drink?" Hulda asked me.

Her word broke me out of my thoughts about a very short quest that involved needing to punch a bard in the face many times.

"Some venison and mead would be great" I said.

I assumed that was a deer they had cooking on the firepit. The smell was mouthwatering and my stomach soon made its opinion on the matter known to the whole tavern. Which thankfully was ignored.

"Saadia! Get some venison for our guest!" the woman called out to the Redguard.

She called back in response and set about preparing my food. In the meantime tankard of cold mead was set down in front of me and I immediately took a large swig of it.

"Leave me alone!" a person then yelled.

A harsh tone caught my attention and I looked over at the pair in the corner to see the man with a smug expression that was plastered all over her face. The woman he was sitting with did not seem so pleased by what was going on.

I heard Hulda mumble something under her breath but couldn't make out the words. However I didn't really need to understand the words because her tone of voice let me know her point of view.

"Does this happen often?" I asked.

l was now keeping my eyes on the pair. I wasn't sure if I had the authority to arrest people as Thane, but the man, who was a bard if I remembered correctly, did try something perhaps I could convince a guard to lock him for the night in a cell.

"Unfortunately," Hulda said to me.

On the other hand I'd faced down a dragon today so a drunken bard shouldn't be too much of a problem, and I was in a good mood.

"Then maybe someone needs to go teach that man about the concept of manners," I decided.

I drank down the last of my mead and stood up from my stool, then I went over to the where the poor was being harassed. Guys who couldn't take no for an answer really pissed me off.

"Listen I don't normally intrude on other people's business, but something tells me that the lady doesn't want to be bothered,"

I stood over the man with my arms folded slackly across my chest, doing my best to look intimating. The bloke stood up to face me and actually managed to stare back at me at eye level.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you that it's rude to get involved in other people's business, Imperial?" I was asked.

His voice was surprisingly calm. I was armed and armoured while all he had was his fists.

"It's also rude to keep pushing yourself on a woman who's clearly not interested," I pointed out.

He didn't take that well.

"Ha! Carlotta's already mine, even if she isn't ready to admit it yet" he argued.

I figured that she would never be his. He was too pushy to start with.

"She isn't yours or we wouldn't be having this discussion" I pointed out.

He didn't seem to appreciate that comment, if his narrowed eyes were any indication.

"I don't think I like your tone" he said.

That made two of us. I didn't care for his tone.

"I don't think I like you trying to force yourself on someone who wants nothing to do with you," I said to him "So how about you leave, or I can make you leave".

Right away I knew by the smirk he shot the woman that he was going to throw a punch, so when he did I blocked it. Which was impressive as I couldn't normally have done that. Not that it surprised me much as I'd just absorbed a dragon's soul and I so much more power now.

His face twisted into a mixture of surprise and pain when my fist slammed into his gut. I followed that attack up with a rather vicious punch to the face that sent him stumbling back against the wall. He was nearly knocked by the second punch, which was amazing because I'd never hit anyone that hard in my whole life. Just how powerful was I now?

Maybe the bard was drunk, this might explain why his lost his balance so easily. I knew it was important not to think too highly of myself as that sort of overconfidence was what got people killed.

"Get out of here" I told the local man "And if I hear that your bothering anyone I'll do worse next time".

Once he was gone I turned my head to face the woman.

"Sorry about interfering. It just didn't seem right to let him do that" I said.

Some women could be picky about men coming to their defence, either because they felt they should be able to fight their own battles, or because they didn't want to end up owing anyone for the save. Not that she did owe me anything as I'd mostly punched him because his actions were annoying me.

"I think that should make him think twice about pestering me in the future" the lady said "He's been after me for weeks. It's about time someone finally put a stop to it. Thank you".

At this point I was glad that she wasn't giving me an ear full, that would have ruined my good mood, and I was just about to sit down for dinner.

"It was my pleasure," I said.

The door opened to reveal a large Nord woman who was in steel armour. I figured that this was Lydia.

"Thane!" Lydia shouted as she caught sight of me.

She quickly shut the door behind her and fixed me with a disapproving stare. I'd gotten that stare from so many women my life, mostly those that I was related to.

"You left before I could introduce myself" she said.

Well to be fair the Jarl had dismissed me. I couldn't assume that Lydia was eager to start her new job. She never seemed happy about in the game, but I figured that being the Housecarl to a Dragonborn must be a big deal.

"You're the new Thane?" I heard Carlotta asked.

I just nodded my head as my mouth currently had some venison in it. The meat was nice and tender.

"So then you're the one who killed the dragon" the inn's owner said.

Rumors could really get around fast.

"No" I said, "But I did help slay it".

Aela might have dealt the killing blow, but it had been a team effort.

"From what I hear, he's also the Dragonborn," Lydia told people.

I hadn't wanted everyone to know that yet. Fame sounded good, but I knew that me publicly known as being the Dragonborn would make me a target once word got around. Although why anyone would risk knowingly killing the only person who could save the world was a mystery indeed.

"We should get to the ceremony" my Housecarl told me "I was set to fetch you".

I looked at my food and hoped that there was food up at the castle as I was really hungry, but I had to leave so I asked the innkeeper how much I owed her.

"It's some mead and venison. I'm hardly going to charge a Thane for that," she responded with a kind smile "Consider it complimentary".

Oh so there were perks to this Thane job after all. Good to know.


End file.
